That time I taped my bangs to my forehead 😬

I cut bangs the night before 7th grade started 😳

If you follow me on Instagram or actually know me IRL, you know that I have very fine, thin, curly hair. My hair is and always has been a major point of contention for me. 

In fact, there was a time, not that long ago, when I believed I could not be a coach because of my hair. See all the coaches I saw on IG had long, luscious, wavy, perfect hair. And my hair is many things, but it is none of those.

Anyway back to my story, bangs and curly hair are not a great mix. And I did not have the luxury of easily accessible blow dryers and curling irons. 

Those things had to be plugged into a certain type of plug that were only in certain rooms (not the bathroom of course). This is what it’s like being an urban girl living off the grid in the woods. #COMPLICATED

So, I improvised. I taped my bangs to my forehead and went to sleep.

Why you might ask would I do such a thing? To try to make my curly, frizzy hair straight of course. 

And why am I telling you this story 28 years later? Because where I live school is starting, and teens do weird things when they are nervous or anxious about something.

And they often can’t explain it. Cutting bangs the night before starting junior high - weird. Taping my bangs to my head - weird. 

I was nervous and wanted to do something different, and my hair seemed like a good place to start.

This often seems counterintuitive to us fully developed frontal lobe humans. If you're nervous, and highly concerned with how you look and what other people think of you, why would you do something drastic to your appearance the night before a big day?

Let's just chalk it up to adolescent brain development. This is normal behavior for this age group.

Cutting bangs and taping them to your head is not a terrible thing. It had no horrendous side effects, and everyone in my family was pretty open-minded and non-judgmental about it. So all in all, this was a pretty harmless way to express my anxiety.

Maybe your teen is doing something a bit more drastic. Love them. Be curious, but not too curious. 😉 Show interest in whatever it is they are changing, and as much as you can, hold back your judgment and your future casting.

Just because today your teen is wearing all black and has Cat Eyes Sharp Enough to Kill a Man (thanks Taylor!!), is wearing super baggy pajama pants and giant T-shirts with crocks, or wearing the tiniest pair of shorts you’ve ever seen, does not mean anything about who they are, or who they are going to be.

Teens express themselves through fashion and move through phases quickly. It’s part of the beauty and challenges of being a teen.

Also, they live in a world where the media, the patriarchy, advertisements, and culture are constantly telling them how they need to dress and look.

Let your home be a place of loving acceptance, especially when school is about to start and tensions are running high.