Time in a bottle

Mousse is time in a bottle

Twenty minutes a day. That’s the average time a woman spends doing her hair every day! That adds up to almost two and a half hours a week and more than five full days a year. So, what the heck are we doing, ladies? 

Instead of gettin’ pretty, we could be reading, writing, chatting, running, playing, watching T.V., working, or any number of other things. We could be doing the things men who simply shower and shave have time to do.

I’ve always been a multitasker, so when I dry my hair I usually read or memorize. Then, when I’m curling and straightening, I often listen to music or podcasts. I know, I know. Friends tell me I should just relax, slow down and think. But, except for during the early morning hours when I first wake up, pondering has never come easily to me. Life seems to beckon me out of bed to begin...well, to begin living! For this very reason, my favorite hairstyles have always been the scrunch-n-go kind. 

I resent spending so much time to just look decent. So, I propose we use mousse—lots of it and lots more often. 

Mousse is time-in-a-bottle, baby! Even if we scrunch half the time we usually spend blowing and straightening and curling, we could recuperate enough hours for a weekend getaway. Now, that’s some time I’d want to keep in a bottle. 

What keeps me young

BYU campus at night

A month ago, my middle child graduated from high school, and four days later he started college. He joined his two older siblings at the same university. His departure marked the official day my nest tipped, leaving it now more empty than full. I'm not sure how it happened. I'm not sure when it happened. Just a moment or two ago, I was in my son's place--even at the same university--taking mind-expanding classes, washing dishes in the dorm cafeteria, having late-night conversations with roommates, spending long yet fascinating hours head-down in the library, walking home barefoot on intoxicating summer evenings, dancing in the street...all the while trying to figure out my future. Those were pivotal years marked by many seminal moments of learning and making key choices. 

And just like that, three of my children have taken my place.