To shave or not to shave?

Spring and warm weather are starting to FINALLY make their sweet appearances here in Colorado. I hear birds chirping and the beginning of buds on the trees are sprouting. We had a recent article telling us to pay attention as the bears will be coming out of hibernation soon and to keep our trashcans in the garage. I stare with envy at my east coast friends FB pages, who have posted pictures of Azalea bushes blooming bright pink, red and white flowers.  I know that everyone raves about the awesome skiing in our state, but this fair weather gal would prefer to live at the beach any day of the week. Wish the husband and son in my life agreed but it looks I'll be here forever. Unless Molly can land a sweet job as a chair/umbrella girl at the beach and I'll just HAVE to go with her to supervise.

So this may sound very superficial but it's my annual internal mommy debate as we migrate from long pants to shorts. To shave or not to shave my daughters legs? Most girls start this in 5th or 6th grade don't they? And they can do it on their own. Molly is a junior in high school and would slice her leg off if she was left alone to landscape. So yes, I've been mulling this over for quite some time and it's my pure laziness that has kept me from actually following through with doing it. I have a hard enough time staying on top of my own legs so picturing the bi-weekly struggle to shave HER legs just overwhelms me. Before our family cruise to the Caribbean last year, I decided to try a bottle of Nair for the first time. It's a great, easy wipe on, no shave, solution and yet Molly's skin had a crazy blotchy reaction to it. AND I caught her in the bathroom weeks later using the remainder as lotion! Luckily she hadn't used it on her face or scalp and there was no hair loss in the wrong locations, but it freaked me out enough to not buy more. The concern for me, of course, is what her peers are thinking. "EWWWW....look at her hairy legs?" or "Granola, tree hugger girl" etc. She is different enough already that adding this one socially icky trait would it just be alienating her even more? Or do they not care at all? Thinking back to when I was a teenager, I would have been appalled at a girl my age with hairy legs, so I can't imagine that kids these days are any more forgiving. Laser surgery? Waxing? Ugh....just one more thing to research and all it costs is $, right? Or maybe...just maybe....I can try it with her and this year she will be mature enough to understand and be able to shave her legs all on her own! I like thinking positively. And if you thought that conversation was awkward....just wait until I have the nerve to share about her womanly cycle! It's a fact of life with the girls and something that we dreaded for sure!

Molly and her "talker" at the TRE luncheon last year (hairy legs covered).