I am cursed with baby fine, straight, mousy hair and most of my life I’ve wanted to have hairstyles that just wouldn’t happen. I had horrible cuts through most of Primary School then when I went to secondary school and had more say about it I grew it long. One year I remember giving myself a Home Perm and being shocked by the resultant frizz but managed to make it reasonable by using big rollers in my hair every night until the perm wore off. When Mia Farrow with her urchin hairstyle appeared I finally found a hairstyle that suited me, I added a few blonde streaks and I actually liked the way it looked. Then I set off overseas and because I wouldn’t trust such a drastic cut to a hairdresser whose skills I didn’t know I let my hair grow long.
Mid 70s, the Flower Power era was in full swing and affros ruled. No way was my hair going to obligingly stay in a tight mass of curls but I persevered with perms and kept trying for “the natural, carefree look”. One day I went up to the hairdresser to get my hair permed leaving Papa to look after our little ones at Granny’s house. When I came back with curls my breast-fed baby wouldn’t come near me, he snuggled into Papa’s neck terrified of the weird woman who was trying to take him away. Eventually as he got hungrier and more unsettled and my breasts got painful I tied one of Granny’s head squares over my hair then he came to me and all was right with the world again.
You didn’t know that about Nana did you?
Musings of a Retiring Person 
Ive always had my hair short and its very straight. I too had streaks and used magic silver white to grey them…. Now Id have to reverse that… Just once I had my hair permed. Obviously some mad whim…. I hated it. I came home and when my 6 year old daughter walked in from school she burst into tears. I had to go and have it all cut out.
I wonder if it’s a common thing with young kids, what about the young mums now who change their hair colour radically, I wonder if their kids notice.