This really devastating thing happened: my child stopped taking two naps and now only takes one. The sum total of the time she naps in a day is roughly the same, but we now have an entire morning free for outings and errands and play dates. Which is good, right? I remember when she was still taking 3 then 2 naps a day I thought fondly of a time when she would give me a longer chunk of time to be out and about with her instead of rushing from place to place and planning activities precariously around her nap schedule. And please don't do the thing where you tell me she can sleep ANYWHERE if she's tired enough you can TAKE her don't be a SLAVE to her schedule…unless you want to hold my hand and fend off angry glances from strangers during the we-waited-too-long-get-her-home-and-she-likes-to-sleep-in-a-quiet-dark-place meltdown.
Now that we do have our mornings free though, what I've gained in freedom of movement I've lost in time to get ready for my day. Her first nap was also known as the 'mom showers, gets dressed, drinks tea and writes e-mails' period of the day. And suddenly POOF. It's gone. Since our little Vesper is an early, pre-dawn riser there is no way in hell I'm purposely getting up in the 5's just to shower and get dressed. I'd rather shave my head and never shower again. And while I could probably find time to rush in there before Dave leaves to the rink each morning, there is NO heating of ANY kind in a Japanese bathroom and I just can't force myself to get nude under those conditions! I have standards!
So all this means that I often wait to shower until afternoon when she naps or even later when Dave is home. And sadly I don't have the kind of hair that wears well overnight. It's too a) greasy b) short c) weirdly wiry. For a while cute winter hats were my camouflage of choice but spring is springing here in Japan and I needed a new plan. I hit up Pinterest for some ideas for quick up-dos, but so many require hair at least shoulder length. Seeing as it may be a decade before my hair grows long enough, I improvised a plan for those of us with less length (though it certainly will work for those with longer hair as well). So for a 90 second hair fix that works on short, dirty and unruly hair, this is my new go-to.
First, I pin my bangs back like this (using a tutorial I found on Pinterest, of course) and place any cute headband just behind where my bangs are secured (please ignore the layer of small hairs that line my face…I shed hair like a maniac after I gave birth and suddenly I appear to be regenerating a new layer):
Then I proceed, with no vision, plan or skill, to twist the entire back of my hair in to messy buns of various sizes (starting with the top of my head with the longest hair first and working down) and using criss-crossing bobby pins to make sure they are toddler-chasing-secure. It looks a hot mess, but some people pay someone to make their hair look messy, I'm just lucky to come by that naturally. If you had more time or hand-eye coordination than I do you could certainly make sure the bobby pins are hidden, but for me I don't mind them as part of the unkempt nature of the look:
And TA-DA, that's it. I did this with a 15-month old hanging on my leg yelling 'Mom. Hi. Mom. MOM. MOM. Up. UP. UP. HI. HI MOM.' and still was able to pick her up before a full meltdown ensued. I left for the park 2 minutes later and felt just a little more put together than I had before. Mission accomplished.
-Lane
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That was my all-time favorite hair style in high school – once you get good at it, it takes no time at all and looks really cute!
great idea – with a 15 month old daughter here, too, who doesn’t like to sleep more than 45 minutes for her nap, this may become my go-to. 🙂
Great idea! I am most definitely going to try that. My hair is about the same length. Yesterday, it was crazy windy here in TX so I headed out with a vintage scarf tied over my short-ish, unwashed, and messy hair. You would not believe how many stares I got for that one! I’ll keep trying, though. Determined to bring back the granny/pirate look 😉
Wonderful and perfect timing! My 13 month old is right on the verge of dropping that wonderful morning nap/mommy shower and get ready for the day time. I have turned to the dreaded TV monster babysitter with my 2.5 year old, but even so, I never seem to have enough un-interrupted time to do more than get myself clean… making myself look a little bit like I haven’t completely given up is another story. I’m going to give it a try this morning!
Super cute! I especially like the side view.
Dry shampoo could also potentially be your new best friend (if you haven’t already tried it). It gives my fine hair lots of body and texture and the awesome thing is it really stretches out a real washing. I only need to wash my hair now two or three times a week whereas previously I washed it most every day. So freeing!
I like the Suave version myself, but there are tons of options out there. 🙂
I love this look! I have very curly hair. . .will have to try this out for those (all too frequent) days when there’s just no time for a shower!
My hubs just informed me this morning that my not having showered for three days was a violation of our wedding vows! LOL! Pretty sure he is smart enough to have been joking. I LOVE this idea, it solves trouble I had doing a similar. I also posted about my magic hairstyle(discovered in Style Me Vintage HAIR book)….teasing the heck and hairspraying the heck and kind of rolling it under..leaving back down or putting it up like a french twist,here http://liveyourloveoutloud.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-i-wore-wednesday-camel-vs-black.html
Now because of you I have a variation! Hurray more ways to hide my dirty hair in a coif!
Super cute- thanks for sharing! I also have shorter hair but get impatient with it really easily. I’m not very creative with my hair and am looking for cute/easy ways to put it up.
Also, I’ve been resisting Pinterest because the last thing I need is another addicting and time consuming obsession, but I think I might finally have to break down and join 🙂
My hair is in a pixie cut, and when I don’t have time to shower and need to look presentable, I just stick my head under the faucet. I wet it down and blow dry. Since it’s super short this can take as little at 5 min.
I second dry shampoo, it makes life better. But I do love the look, super cute and it makes you look like you have a ton of hair.
As for the whole nap/ public places, HIGHlarious!
I miss those morning naps, too! Baby hair…that’s what my friend calls the wispy fringe of a new mama’s hairline. 🙂
Thanks for the cute tip!
There’s always talcum powder, too. I got some as a baby shower present, but you’re not supposed to use it on babies now (bad for their lungs, I guess?). So I throw a couple tbsp into my pixie cut hair when I’m 24 hours too far past my shower and no hope in sight. Works like a charm, and way cheaper than dry shampoo.
Thanks for the great idea! I have 19 month old twins and I either have time for makeup or hair never both. So I always leave the house with pony and it gets pretty boring. I’m going to pick up some bobby pins and try this out.
Doing this tomorrow. 🙂
Where did you get the headband? So cute! Will try this for sure