by Beth Woolsey -

Lowering the Bar: a Happy Schadenfreude Post

I haven’t showered since Monday. Just thought you’d want to know so you can feel completely awesome about all you’ve accomplished this week. Any amount of personal grooming puts you ahead of me. It’s like my special present to you. No need to send a thank you note. You’re welcome, friend.

I have 26 chigger bites on my legs. They itch like a mother. Like the mother of a mother. I asked around to see if any of my friends have a vat of acid I can borrow to peel the flesh from my bones as that sounds preferable to the continuous itch, but they’re all being selfish vat-of-acid hoarders and not sharing. I might need new friends. In the meantime, I’m alternating between 4 types of anti-itch creams, scratching deep rivulets in my legs, and throwing back shots of Benadryl which makes me crabby. My family likes me best when I’m crabby, though, so that’s working out well. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

The hardest part…

I can’t ever decide whether the hardest part of coming home to my family is:

a) realizing my littles do just fine without their mama and don’t pine for me the way I pine for them,

OR

b) finding the time to mow down the legions of renegade hairs who seized some serious ground in their ongoing and determined campaign for control of my face. (Sometimes I think there aren’t enough tweezers in all the world.) ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

Rainy Days and Snapshots: a guest post by Fiona Merrick

Today’s guest post on Women and Beauty in Faith and Culture comes from Fiona Merrick, writer of the delightful blog, Tea with a Friend.

Fiona is a stay-at-home mother, former high-school teacher and writer. She lives in the north-east of England with her husband Ben, sons Joshua and Daniel and cat Mandu.

Because Fiona is from the U.K., I read absolutely everything she writes in a Mary Poppins voice. You might at least try to be more mature than me. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

The God of Chia Pet Hair, And Other Thoughts on Beauty

Today’s post on Women and Beauty in Faith and Culture comes from Melanie Springer Mock who, I can personally attest, is only gracious and lovely, even if you totally screw up and meet her 45 minutes late for coffee.

Melanie Springer Mock is a Professor of English at George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon. She is mother to two ten-year-old boys, stepmom to two adults, and grandma to one (though she is really too young for such a role). Her most recent book is Just Moms: Conveying Justice in an Unjust World, published in 2011. She blogs about images of women embedded in evangelical popular culture at Ain’t I a Woman? and blogs for Christian Feminism Today at FemFaith. The Curly Girl approach to hair care has saved her life. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

An Open Letter to My Chin Hair

Dear Chin Hair,

When I was in the third grade, I had a costume party for my birthday.

I was a stop light.

This stop light is from Room Doodles, but if you imagine it with legs, arms, a head, really bad bangs and a lot of freckles, then you get the gist.

I’m pretty sure the reason I was a stop light was because my parents were all, “What can we do with an eight-year-old, a cardboard box, and some paint?” But what do I know, really? Maybe I had a thing for stop lights at age eight. Maybe I begged to be a stop light. I mean, God knows I like to control things. Maybe my parents were just accepting me on a core level. Maybe I should write them a thank you note for loving the me I am rather than spend precious moments of my life – moments that I will never get back – writing to my chin hair. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

The Hair Product

As you may know, I’m always deep and thoughtful.

I post only meaningful and well-written articles on my blog.

Like the one about my hair and what exactly I should do to it.

After reading through your suggestions, for which I emphatically thank you, I settled on a plan.

In the end, I took advice from wise, wise women like my friend, AJ, who wrote:

You have five kids. A husband. Extended family. A job. A big house. Food prep, homework, cleaning (or going away so your husband can clean), church duties, etc. Why would you want to be responsible for one more thing, especially your hair?!!  Hello: shovel that off on the appropriate person, a.k.a. hair stylist. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

Hair

Two thoughts.

Thought #1:  I don’t know.  I don’t know why I allowed it to be taken.  I don’t know why I kept it.  I don’t think I was actually mad at anyone; gee, I hope I can manage my emotions better than that.  (Otherwise, what was the point of 3 years of counseling??)  In fact, I’m pretty sure my eldest took this photo when she and I were goofing off on vacation.  Either that, or I was possessed.  You pick.
 ...  read more