One of the downsides of having a girly girl and not having actually been a girly girl, is the attention one must to pay to hair. For two score and some odd years, I have been in search of the perfect hairstyle.

Random hair stylist: "How do you want your hair cut today?"

Me: "Well, I don't like it like how it is."

"Do you want bangs? Tapered? Layered? Razor cut?"

"Ummm...."

"Keep it short? Grow it out?"

"Well..."

"Straight? Wavy? Curly? Tousled?"

"..."

"Colored? Highlights?"

"Look, I don't really know what all those things mean. I just want to wake up in the morning and have it look decent without having to... you know... like... brush it and stuff."

Hairstylist stares at me blankly.

"Just cut it however you want."

The perfect hairstyle to me is the one which requires the least amount of effort and makes me look like Michelle Pfieffer. I haven't found it yet, but I'll let you know when I do because I'm holding onto hope that it exists. Yes, Virginia, there is a perfect haircut.

Since The Dormouse cut all her hair off to donate two years ago, she's decided that her hair is as much an accessory as the latest Monolo Blahniks and would rather be Rapunzel than have a cute, sassy, easy-to-maintain bob. Which means I have to step up my hair fixin' skilz.

Fortunately, I turned to the Interweb - much as I do for television and movie trivia, general definitions, spelling, marital advice, and healthcare - and found a blog that I now have tucked securely in my Google Reader called Cute Girl Hairstyles. This helps me keep up with the constant requests of "Momma, can you French braid my hair? But not a boring French braid. A cool French braid." (At six, she still doesn't really know the difference from a French braid and a regular old braid -- and I still haven't explained it to her.)

We don't have church on Easter Sunday this year due to a church wide conference so yesterday The Dormouse requested an "Easter Hairdo" to wear to church that would make all her friends drool with envy. Here's what we came up with:



which is really just an idea completely stolen from this post.

So if you're like me and need a little remedial hair advice, check out Mindy's blog. But be aware that if you have two girls at home and the younger one sees the older one's hairstyle, she will probably want it copied on her own head. And if the hair distribution is a bit unequal in your house, you may have to find an alternate way to accomplish that hairstyle on the other one's head.

I suggest this:



It won't last long, but it'll make her happy enough.