Losing my Mind... err... Hair.

If you know me in person, you know that I currently have really long, dark hair. However, I'm afraid that is not going to last much longer. Don't be alarmed, I don't have cancer and am not undergoing chemo. I don't have alopecia and I don't have a hormonal imbalance. I have PTSD: Post-natal Tendril Shredding Disorder.

It isn't bad enough that you lose a lot of your luscious locks after you deliver. Due to hormones, you're no longer keeping as many hairs in your head and you lose hair after birth in fistfuls. THEN, you develop a baby with grip strength that could rival a chimpanzee. That is interested in your mane. And seeks to touch it. And pulls it. A lot. All the time. And it hurts. And brings me back to when I was a kid and my sister pulled my hair. ALL the time.

So, I'm now going bald at an alarming rate. At least that is what it looks like given the copious strands found daily in my son's hands. Today, I thought to myself, I MUST find a solution to this.

First, I thought that maybe I could just cut my hair. The baby doesn't seem as interested in the Husband's hair, although to me it looks like a lot of fun given its curliness! I've had pretty much every hairstyle you could think of. Long locks, the Dorothy Hamill, the Richard Marx (home perms gone BAD), even the "bowl" shaved underneath all the sides, the Rachel, the Pixie, etc. etc. My hair has been literally almost every color there is (even blue, green, and purple). I am just not that attached to the color or style.

But, I am intent on growing my hair out long to donate it to  Locks of Love while I still have my "natural" color. The hair pieces made go only to children under 21 so I think it is a great thing.You can't donate it if your hair is processed or dyed (Edit: I'm wrong. You can donate if it has been dyed, just not any bleaching or highlights!). So, the option to cut is out. I'm starting to get grays and I want to do this donation thing at least once.

Next, I thought, "Well, when does he pull my hair the most?" The answer is usually when we are laying down or sitting nursing. (See my post on this if you've forgotten how "great" nursing is.) (Side note: males may want to skip that post. hehe.) No matter how much I try to distract The Baby with toys, he is FASCINATED by my hair. Also, just pulling it back in a ponytail never works well enough.

So I thought, well... maybe a covering? And so of course I Googled it, and I found these options:

I thought that maybe this hat (on etsy) would be a good option because it would cover most of my head and it would have long, stringy things for The Baby to play with. However, there are a couple of downsides to this.
1.) It would look a little funny if I wanted to use it in public.
2.) Not sure it would fit all of my hair inside, even in the adult version.

But then I found THIS on google. YES! A baby wombat in a hat. Now, THAT would sure occupy him and keep him away from my tendrils. But, there are a couple of downsides to this too.
1.) This might distract him too much and keep him from actually nursing.
2.) I don't know how to care for baby wombats and they grow into adult wombats that perhaps do their OWN hair pulling, thus defeating the purpose of having the baby wombat.

So, I went back to searching for hats and I found THIS on Headcovers Unlimited. This site is a great resource if you are suffering from any kind of hair loss, by the way. Now this is nearly perfect. It would cover ALL of my hair. ALL of my hair would fit in it. AND there is a bunch of little fleece "pull toys" at the bottom! But, there is one drawback.

It is about to be summer. Which means, there is NO way I can wear this out in public and not be mistaken for having a serious illness (physical or mental). Also, due to the crazy, fluctuating hormones I am constantly hot, which is kind of a nice break from my normal, always freezing self. I never once wore a real coat this winter, except while skiing.




So, my next thoughts were, "Well, how can I prevent The Baby from getting to my hair?" So, I thought about taping up his hands  putting some kind of coverings on his hands to keep him from being able to grab it. The downside to that is, perhaps he won't ever develop his fine motor skills. What if I keep him from learning how to grab tiny objects like strands of hair??? Imagine my horror when they tell me in Kindergarten, "Sorry, Mrs. D, we're going to have to hold back The Baby again because he cannot color in the lines."

Here I am, back to square one. I need your collective wisdom!!! How can I prevent this PTSD!??? My husband and hair will thank you!