Ohio Moms Blog

The Power of a Great Haircut

This week, I will get my hair cut and styled. Afterwards, I will feel like a million bucks.  Why? Because a great haircut has awesome and wonderful powers on the American woman.

My hair is short enough to require a cut every 6 weeks or so and I color my hair.  A good haircut in this part of Ohio is going to cost around $60.  The coloring can range from $60-100, depending on what you want done.

The DIY part of me is willing to color my own hair.  I've had enough bad or mediocre color jobs in the salon to make me completely ok with my own color results.  However, the cut is different.  A good cut is worth paying for. 

No Hoochie-Mamas Here

I grew up in the 70's - that tells you a lot about me right there.  The post-Woodstock, free-love, ample drugs, rock-and-roll, The Stones, Disco, Southern Rock...you know the generation.  My generation....I think there was a song about that.

Yet in all of the 'sub-culture' of the 70's, there were boundaries.  I remember when Cher first showed her belly-button on television, what an uproar was made by an unapproving public!  You just didn't do that.  And if you did, you would find yourself 'labeled' very quickly...as someone looking for a different kind of fun, aka Hoochie-Mama.

A Mother's Day Tribute to a Woman I'll Never Meet

In America this Sunday, we will celebrate and pay tribute to our moms.

We'll send them cards, bring them flowers, take them out to brunch and generally love all over them.  I will be in that number, enjoying whatever my husband and children choose to do to honor their wife and mother.  I particularly like 'homemade' cards because they truly reflect what the children are feeling.

However, there is another woman somewhere in Ethiopia who is the biological mother to three of my adopted children....and I ache for her this week.

The World's Sexiest Man - My Husband!

This is my husband, driving our tractor up the street to be repaired.  I am completely enthralled with him in this picture.

Why?  Because my husband is a businessman, through and through.  He isn't handy, never has been.  He hates yard work and prefers the smallest, maintenance-free yard he can have.  He drives an Acura and keeps it perfectly maintained and clean.  His office is even cleaner.

What does all of this have to do with the price of eggs?  And where am I going with this crazy post??  What makes him sexy to me is that he is willing to dream my dream with me....by moving to the country.

Why Men Cheat

Tiger Woods, Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, Ted Haggard....the list goes on and on as to the men we hear about, daily it seems, that are caught cheating on their wives and family.  I could just about regurgitate every time I hear another recount of a powerful and/or famous male and the problems that his treacherous sexual behavior has brought upon him and his innocent family.

Further, to add insult to injury, the press continues to make excuses for this lack of self-control as they suggest that perhaps these cheaters have some sort of a sexual addiction and need rehab along with therapy.

"I ain't no psychiatrist, I ain't no doctor with degree" as Aretha Franklin sang in her hit "Think", but let me tell you this.  There is a very simple, yet profound reason these men cheat and I won't even charge you $250 an hour to reveal it to you.

My Beef with Social Networking

I have deactivated my Facebook account for the third and final time.

Over the last few months, I have become increasingly disgusted with social networking sites and the concept of maintaining meaningful relationships through them.

Don't misjudge me, I'm not a technology 'rebel'.  Far be it from me to insinuate that life in America today could be productive and progressive without the benefits of modern day technology.  I have desktop and laptops computers, a Blackberry and cell phone.  I need and use all of them everyday.  I've had accounts on Facebook and Twitter. I'm no prude.

Be "Mom" First!

After many years of homeschooling all of our children, 13 years to be exact, I have reached a turning point.  I have put 5 of our 9 children in public school and will continue to homeschool 3 others at home (one is in college). 

Honestly, I feel a bit judged by both sides of the education world.  Frankly, though, I don't care.  We are doing what's best for our family at this time.

Haircuts & Headaches

My teenage sons are pouting this evening.  I just cut all of their hair.  One says it's too long, another wants it short one time and long the next.  My oldest son would just as soon let his hair grow down to the ground if I would let him. No matter how hard I try, I cannot please them anymore when I do their hair.

 In all of my years of mothering, I have always cut my children's hair with few exceptions, at least up to this point.  When they are working and driving, they are welcome to go and pay for any haircut they want. 

Our first child, Hailey, only required a straight-line perimeter cut, easy enough.  Then we had three little boys in a row, all born with a head-full of hair.  Initially, I took Trevor, my first son to the $6 place to get his hair cut, which then became the $8 place (due to inflation), plus tip and it was becoming the $12 place!  During this time, I also realized that my tolerance for my boy's hair growing over the ears was about 3 weeks time.  So, cutting one child's hair was costing about $16 per month.

Dealing with Publicly Rude People

It was long overdue, my precious Saturday morning out to Panera Bread.  I would have liked to sleep in on this wintry morning, but 'alone time' was high on my need list and I couldn't wait to cozy into a booth near the crackling fireplace at my favorite coffee place.

There I sat with my laptop, notepads, emails, school papers, a couple of books that might get read, my hazelnut coffee and low-fat blueberry muffin, listening to classical music in the background.  It doesn't get much better than this.  Suddenly my glorious ambiance was shattered as three young men came staggering in to order breakfast, obviously hung over from the previous evening.

Of the three, one young man stood out largely due to his prominent voice.  His inappropriate conversation transmitted across the dining room, as he bragged along with his buddies about the night before.  "Get it to go!!!" I prayed silently, "get it to GO!".   It was not to be.  All three jerks studs chose the table next to mine.  Ugh.

"Surely they didn't realize how loud they were while in line!" I thought to myself, "I'm sure they'll settle down when they notice all the people around them".  There was a group of older men having a Bible study in one corner along with a smattering of older ladies sharing and enjoying the quiet. 

The Gift of Family

On a rare trip to the mall last weekend, I found myself rummaging through sales racks of clothes in a meager attempt to spruce up my look.  Shopping for clothes isn't something I particularly enjoy, especially at a mall, but a couple of times of year is fun.  One reason I don't go to the mall, other than just not liking overpriced crap, is that I have small children who I would have to take with me most of the time.  This would make mall-shopping quite unenjoyable for all parties involved and thereby something to avoid.

As I poked around, my relaxed mood came to an abrupt halt when I heard this mother screaming at her two boys.  "Sit right here!" she screamed as she pointed to the mall floor, in the main isle way of JCPenney.  "Don't move, speak or anything!  Do you understand me???!!"  Many of us shoppers couldn't help but notice the commotion as well as the look on her two little boy's faces.  They looked completely humiliated, and yet somehow used to the 'routine'.  The mother marched back to the sales rack to shop, satisfied with her manipulative-parenting style.  I racked my brain to think of something I could give the boys to pass the time, some crayons or paper....darned, my purse is unusually clean.  Then, I noticed a large man, who resembled the boys, walking up to them.  Could it be Dad to the rescue??  Good 'ole Dad can take the boys to the play land and let them get their wiggles out, or better yet take them home and let the witch shop alone.  But to my horror, "Mommy Dearest" comes over to her husband and gives him a piece of her small mind.  Pop hangs his head in shame and takes his place next to his boys.  What an invertebrate.