Flashback Friday: My First Shave/My Last Shave

Photo Credit: Telstar Logistics/CC 2.0

My mother wouldn't allow me to shave my legs (or under my arms or nether region). She said it was because I didn't need to shave since the hair was too fine to be noticeable. I think she was trying to keep me a child a long as possible. So the first thing I did when she dropped me off at college was to buy a razor and shaving cream and go to town on my legs, armpits, and bikini line. I felt so grown-up! A few days later I also felt itchy as the hairs began to grow back. Hello, new pain-in-the-a** grooming ritual! I wondered if my mother was right. Maybe I should have left well enough alone. I mean the hairs on my legs weren't like my aunt's, which were so long and thick that they poked through her pantyhose! Say it with me...ick! I kept shaving anyway because that's what ladies do and I began to look forward to taking long, hot showers and coming out clean and smooth.

This is my first summer as a mommy and I've shaved my areas only one time. All you mothers out there know that we have exactly five minutes in the shower. My legs are full of scab-covered nicks from rushing. I can avoid tank tops, but it's too hot to wear long pants. I think I need to rethink the smooth legs aesthetic. Society needs to cut mothers some slack. We have enough on our plates without worrying that you are eyeballing our hairy legs!