Hare Today, Goon Tomorrow

     When the Back to School vibe gets into full swing, my memory machine gets cranking. For as long as I can remember, Mother gave me a Toni Home Permanent (Tonette!) before school started.
The smell.
The papers.
The rods.
The torture I endured for pretty curls.
Like I had a choice.
I was a child.



The Toni Home Permanent did not frizz my hair for which I am grateful, but I could hardly sleep at night with the fragrance (?) circling my pillow.

As my hair grew and the perm "grew out" a bit, Mother would use either "spoolies" or "pinkies" to assist in keeping the curls abundant.

 Remember the sound of the spoolie being folded over to trap the wrapped hair?
My curls were numerous and my hair so silky that the waves often carried the indention from the plastic snap-over on the sponge thing we called "pinkies."

Going back to school had more to do with pretty hair, a good hair cut, or a soft wave-only perm than the right school supplies or book satchel or lunch box. Oh, what a nightmare on a first day of school when my forehead looked as if I'd recently recovered from a frontal lobotomy and had forgotten to wrap gauze around the scar. The elastic that held the dryer bonnet in place would make horrid indentations and necessitated an attempt at heavy bangs to cover the abomination.

Here's to all the girls whose mothers "jerk a knot" in their heads to create ponytails and pigtails adorned with big bows to brighten the first day of school.