2/6/2012 You may judge me negatively—I sure would if I were you—but here’s what I did. A few posts back I mentioned that my daughter dyed her hair an ugly fluorescent red color and I freakin’ hated it. I did keep my mouth shut, but she still knew how I felt about it. When she tried to get a promotion at work and was turned down, I couldn’t help but take that opportunity to say that the interviewer most likely judged her by her appearance, wrong as she might think that is.

Still, this did not persuade her to change her hair color back to her luscious brunette hue.

I tried making jokes.

I tried asking nicely.

I tried bribing her with groceries and clothes and paying for professional hair services.

I tried begging.

All to no avail. She said she loved her hair as is and wasn’t willing to change it.

But—one day we were in Walmart and out of the blue she said she’d change her hair to black if I bought her a 30-pack of Bud Light. I said, “Are you kidding? You’re underage and I don’t condone that. Forget it.”

Then a week later, we were on some errands together and I saw what a ratty mess her hair was—from her roots growing in, to the faded/discolored chunks on the back of her head. I suddenly became so desperate that I made the freakiest offer of my life: a 30-pack of Bud Light in exchange for her dyeing her hair black and keeping it that way for six months. She actually gave it a few minutes’ thought, sent some texts, used her lifeline, and gave her final answer: YES.

YES! So, I won (right?). I bought the beer, gave it to my underage daughter, and she bought black dye for her hair. I saw her a week later and VOILA she’s a brunette! I love it and think she looks so beautiful. Of course, I had to tell her that black was something I had to get used to so she’d at least feel like she was still being a little rebellious. She says she dies a little inside every time she looks in the mirror, but that a deal’s a deal. My response? “You’re such a drama queen!”

On the other hand, I, a straight-laced-almost-complete-tee-totaler, bought my 18-year-old daughter 30 cans of beer. So, I ask, is it THAT bad?