By Erinne Magee 
Do you ever find yourself doing an eye roll when you hear the statement: blondes have more fun?
Who invented that phrase anyway? We need to chat.
Blonde is fun, don’t get me wrong. I should know. I’ve been some shade of blonde for most of my life.
I was really blonde while working in the sun on the island of Saipan for 6 months. I was blonde, light brown, crimped and curly when living across from a hairstylist in our Waikiki apartment complex. We also sold Jell-o shots together at a popular tourist bar and before we’d go to work she’d sometimes experiment on me with her dyes and styling tools.
When I went on Spring Break 12 years ago, I was braided. Not the Queen Elsa kind. Corn rows. I learned a lot about patience and my pain threshold while sitting on a milk crate in the hot Dominican Republic sun. Although, the process was not fun, as a cornrowed 19-year-old, I enjoyed snorkeling to a sandbar and giving googley eyes across the dinner table to my boyfriend at the time.
More recently, here in Maine, I’ve rocked purple highlights and a bob when I was a hotel event manager; red highlights and bangs when I quit my corporate job and declared myself a full-time writer.
Looking back, changing my hair so much actually served as great mile markers for life’s memories. “Oh yeah,” I think to myself. “I was a brunette once. That time I did a home dye job while I was a military wife in Lake Tahoe, only to find out I was pregnant the next day and couldn’t change it for 9 months.” I know, you’re thinking that doesn’t sound like a positive experience, but pregnancy was great. I got to eat all the food I wanted and at the end, I was blessed an awesome little human.
But the most fun I’ve had? Probably on the days I’ve gotten out of bed and not brushed my hair at all or even looked in the mirror. Those days are labeled by some as motherhood. That’s certainly where it began for me; single motherhood, to be exact. When I had no time to do anything but to throw my hair in a bun or just be one with the bits of apple and yogurt that decorated my split ends. But now that my daughter is 6 and more independent, I still choose the ease of a ponytail or a simple brush-and-go. It’s not that I dismiss my presentation entirely, but I am more concerned now about what I’m putting into my body nutritionally that helps strengthen and tone my hair, skin and overall appearance vs. taking the time to apply product after product for short term gain.
For me, this method is a win-win. I’m nourishing myself internally, (which ultimately shows on the outside as well) but most importantly, I’m buying myself more time with an impressionable little girl, teaching her that fun doesn’t start with a lengthy bathroom routine and the spiffiest do.
After reading this, you may be thinking “Wow. It isn’t blondes who have more fun. It’s Moms who have more fun.” Well, not exactly.
In fact, fun is no competition at all. The only factor that plays into how well you enjoy each day is your willingness to embrace yourself and those around you. As you are. As they are.
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