BEARDOFF--My Thought Exactly

I know Mom said not to hold my breath, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway!

A few months ago, Jason was talking to Ted about growing beards until New Year's Day and then doing the polar bear swim (For any of you who don't know, that's when a bunch of crazy people--most of them drunk--go running into the ice-cold water of an ocean or lake to celebrate the new year). Presumably they would shave off the beards after the swim--I was only half listening; it was definitely guy talk.

Well, somehow I missed the detail that this beard-growing competition, or beard-off, would begin October 1. I found this out a couple of weeks ago when I started thinking about having a family picture taken for our Christmas cards. I was astounded when Jason mentioned that he would not be shaving.

 

Now, Jason has been known to grow a bit of scruff; in fact, he usually only shaves on Sunday mornings. But to not shave for THREE MONTHS--that's going to be a lot of scruff. It's going to be a BEARD.

 

Jason seems to realize this, but still, he won't shave. So, now I have to write a Christmas newsletter (instead of just sending cards) so I can explain to everyone why my husband looks like a--well, a bearded man--in the pictures. I have always sensed Jason's lack of enthusiasm regarding our family picture, but I never thought he would go to such extreme lengths (literally!) to sabotage it.

 

I've tried asking him to shave, threatening to shave him during the night, telling him about conversations I had with college roommates about how much we all hated beards, showing him pictures of how scruffy he looks--I don't know what else to do.

All I can say is BEARD, OFF!