Becoming Jo March

"For I only sold what was my own." As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose, for all her abundant hair was cut short.

About three years ago, I was looking into making some money while being at home with my boys as a stay at home mom. There are a lot of scams, but one of the legit ways is to sell your hair. For three years, I grew out my hair, barely used hair products or heat from my curling iron, blow drier, and straightener.

Photo credit: Joann Renee Photography. 

I can't recommend her enough.

Not only is she a wonderful sister in law, 

she also takes the BEST photos. 

(Shameless plug over)

Three years later, I am more than ready to chop my hair. The thought of a hospital stay with super long hair is not appealing to me. So, I found a reputable hair selling site (whose owner is very militant about cracking down on scammers), placed an ad, and watched as the emails came in. Then I realized there are some weird people out there who really like free pictures of hair. However, one of the emails was actually legitimate (he was even on the legitimate buyer list that the website's owner has)!  Today, I went into the beauty shop and chopped my hair.

The boys were not impressed with my hair.  To them, long hair is pretty and short hair is NOT pretty! I think the conversation went something like this....

Beniah: Mama, what happened to your hair?
Tim: What do you think of Mama's hair? Is it pretty?
Beniah: No! It's not pretty!
Elijah: Not pretty a-all!

"Oh, Jo, how could you? Your one beauty" 

   I'm not sure how I feel about my short hair yet. I think I need more time to figure out how to style this short of hair.  I do know that unless I find some way to thicken my hair strands, I am not going to try to sell my hair again. The amount of money it sold for was not nearly enough considering the work I put into my hair for three years.I don't regret selling my hair though. This economy and my desire to be a stay at home mom doesn't always mesh, so I am glad for this contribution to our household income. Plus, I will always be able to say, "I sold my hair" whenever one of those awkward icebreaker questions about the weirdest thing you've done comes up. 

"Jo, dear, what is it? Are you crying about father?"

"No, not now."

"What then?"

"My . . . My hair!" burst out poor Jo

Italicized quotes are from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott