Going Gray

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My children like tGrayo point out on a relatively frequent basis, the patch of hair near the front of my head that has turned a much lighter color than it used to be. I never expected to have quite so much gray hair at the age of 34. I certainly didn’t expect to have ANY at 23! But almost immediately following the birth of my first daughter (coincidence? maybe…), I noticed the first off-color hairs creeping in. I’ll admit, I initially tried to rid myself of these traitorous few, however they proved to follow a similar philosophy to the hydra of Greek myth. Pull one and five more spring up in their place. I then attempted a modified version of a comb over. Since the lighter hair seemed to be growing in on only one side of my head, I flipped my part. And it worked, at least temporarily. But that hair was stubborn. It wasn’t long before even that was not working. No matter how hard I tried to conceal it, the gray was there to stay. And there was, much to my dismay, no easy way to hide it.

At that point I was faced with a choice. Do I dare go down the road of frequent dye jobs in an attempt to cover up this evidence of early aging? Or do I let them grow and resign myself to the fact that, while I may still feel young, my hair has chosen to go in a different direction?

To those who see me in person, the decision is clear. At times I am still bothered by them. (For instance, while making our way through a very crowded, black-lit Cat House at the zoo, my then 3 year old son declared in a not-at-all quiet voice “Mommy, your white hair is GLOWING!”) But, mostly I have come to terms with their presence in my life. Why? It is, truthfully, partially due to a lack of desire to subject myself to a dye job every eight weeks. We don’t have the income to support the bi-monthly trip to a salon to have a professional treatment, and there is no scenario in which I am comfortable self-administering a permanent dye to my own head.

More importantly than that, however, I see this as an opportunity to show my children, especially my girls, that perfection is in the eye of the beholder. True, most 34 year olds don’t have quantities of hair with significant glow in the dark potential. But I’m okay with that. Instead of trying to cover up my perceived imperfection, I am embracing it. It is part of who I am, and I can live with that, just as I hope they can live with whatever flaws they see in themselves. I can still feel confident in myself while sporting a few hairs who refuse to conform, and they can too, in spite of whatever pimples, frizzy hairs, or slightly crooked teeth may come their way.

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Emily Ringo
I am a Cincinnati girl, born and raised. After a brief hiatus to attend the University of South Carolina (go Cocks!), my husband and I moved back home with a 1 year old in tow (she's now 10!). Since then, we have added three more kiddos to our family (ages 6, 4 and 2), and I am lucky enough to hang out with them all day. We love reading, getting crafty, and making huge messes that we will definitely clean up...tomorrow. When I'm not surrounded by children, I dabble in exercise, enjoy reading a good book, and can frequently be found binging on Netflix with my favorite guy. About a year ago, a Pinterest “I can do that!” project painting little superheroes for my son turned into an Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/woolyllama) which I manage to run in my “free time”. I may be slightly sleep deprived, but I wouldn't trade a minute of my crazy, busy, wonderful life!

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