Hair today, gone tomorrow?

“JUST how hairy are your legs?” asked my husband while we lay in bed the other night. In disbelief he started to compare calves and, while his were relatively hair-free for a man, mine resembled something of the gorilla variety.

“I’ve been growing my leg hair for months so I can have them waxed,” I protested, feeling mortified. Then it dawned on me that with Lockdown 2 scuppering all my beauty appointments I probably should have just taken a razor to them.

It led to a conversation on what would have and would not have been acceptable when we first started dating. “Would you have seen me again if my legs were hairy like this back then?” I asked, knowing what his answer would be. “No, definitely not,” he replied without hesitation.

I started to think about the dating phase of a relationship, where you strive for perfection: fuzz free, hair professionally blowdried, new outfit. All the small details matter so much.

When life slows down like it has this past year, the temptation to reminisce, over think and scrutinise is too good to ignore and I know I’m 100 percent guilty of this. It’s like I’ve been reliving my glory days in my head. Now, of course, as a mum and wife, life is planned like a military operation and dates have become a thing of the past thanks to Covid.

My husband set the bar pretty high when we dated. There was the time he took me to an exclusive night with the incredible artist Duffy – she performed for about five of us in a tiny bar in Nottingham – and the time he flew me to New York to meet him when he was away working. New York was the city where he proposed to me on top of the Empire State Building one winter evening.

So how did we get to here? Picking up his pants off the bathroom floor and cursing him for not putting the dishwasher on? Are we wrong to think the dating bubble lasts forever?

While the mystery may have well and truly disappeared, I still have butterflies when I know my husband is on his way home from work. I’d choose a night in watching Netflix with him over anything else and I know that I fall in love with him more and more.

I guess you get 12 years down the line and the things that once mattered, like having hair-free legs, seem superficial. I think it’s time for me to be more present, a little less looking back maybe, oh and possibly getting my razor out a bit more often!

■ Kelly Pegg is a journalist and broadcaster working in radio for more than 15 years. She lives in Nottinghamshire. She hosts the podcast The Hot Mess Mums’ club with TV presenter Jenny Powell on Instagram @ thehotmessmums