She's Blue

My daughter has been bugging me all summer to dye her hair. She wanted blue hair. Not her whole head, of course - just a portion of it. I finally agreed to do it. I couldn't really think of any reason not to (well, other than the possibility that pouring chemicals on my child's skull is a bad idea), and it seemed harmless enough. She's expressing herself, ya'll! Plus, I'm hoping that when she's 13 and is screaming at me about how I'm ruining her life because I'm such a horrible mother, maybe she'll remember the time I did the thing she wanted. So, I bought a dye kit with the color she desired: blue. We decided to go for it on Sunday night.

First, I had to bleach the section of hair using the peroxide stuff that was provided. I have never done this before, so I wasn't sure of the best way to proceed. I pulled her hair back into a ponytail, leaving out the section in front that she wanted to dye. I then proceeded to wrap saran wrap around her head. I also got hopelessly entangled in it. I feel like I need to take a class in:

• Folding fitting sheets
• Tearing saran wrap off the roll without making it look like you gnawed it off with your teeth
• Determining the appropriate punishment for a kid who keeps leaving lip gloss in her pockets on laundry day

They could call the class "Domestic Blunders" or something like that.  Anyway, once her head was

encased in plastic, I read the directions verrrrry carefully and applied the peroxide to the soon-to-be-blue section.  Then she sat around and watched her goofy tween shows while the peroxide did its thing. I wouldn't let her sit on the couch so she sat on the floor, which meant that the dogs kept coming over to her to ask, "WHY ARE YOU SITTING ON THE FLOOR!" and then licking her forehead.

When the timer dinged, we rinsed out the peroxide and washed her hair. The hair had to be dried before the next step. We never, ever blow-dry my daughter's curly hair. And for good reason, too. When I was done, she looked like Richard Simmons circa 1983, when his 'fro was at its glorious peak. Next, I had to cover her head again. This time, I tried aluminum foil. However, it didn't work as well as I'd hoped so I just ended up covering the foil with two or three miles of saran wrap. I slathered on the blue dye, as per the instructions, and then sent her back to the living room floor again - at which time the dogs' brains exploded.

45 minutes later, we rinsed out the blue dye in the shower. I had foolishly discarded the plastic gloves that came with the kit because I thought I was done with the dangerous stuff. As I started rinsing, poking my hands through the shower curtain, I noticed that there was blue everywhere. In the shower, on the floor . .. but mostly on my hands. Oh well. I'm still the best mom ever, right?

So, I went to work this morning with blue hands, but the kid has what she wanted and that makes me happy.