Long Hair: How Old is Too Old?

At the request of my loving husband and wonderful children, I am letting my hair grow out again. For a number of years, I've kept it short and been quite content with the ease of styling the short cut. I was more than happy with the fact that my hair stayed out of my face, and coloring it was a breeze. When I started losing weight, my family convinced me to let it grow, like it used to be when we were first married and the kids were young.

"OK," I stupidly said. After all, losing weight was making me feel better, I might as well look better, too.

I can now see how wrong that line of thinking was. At this point, my hair is in that in-between stage. You know, where it's too short to put up, but long enough that it's always hanging in my face. It's been in a constant state of in-between for quite some time now, and quite frankly, I'm ready to hack it off.

Don't even get me started on coloring this mass of gray hair, either. My longer locks are so thick that it almost requires two boxes of hair color and almost an hour just go get the stuff on. Rinsing it is a nightmare of epic proportions. I have half a mind to just leave it natural, but if there's one thing I can't stand is gray-haired women with long hair. Or worse yet, long-haired women with that gray skunk stripe in the middle of their head. There's nothing attractive about that.

So, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should I cut it and risk the disappointment of my family, or do I let it continue to grow and just deal with it?

Decisions, decisions.