So you made the chop—your neck and ears are on display for the whole world to see and it feels amazing. But after some time goes by and you see all the people around you flaunting their mermaid hair and man buns, you start to get envious of that abundant length. You miss braids and ponytails and topknots—even those sloppy buns that all the girls wore in middle school but none of them actually looked good in. You decide to venture forth into the dangerous territory that is growing out a pixie cut, but you have no idea what to expect. You naively think that “It can’t be that hard,” and that “If Emma Watson can gracefully grow out her hair, then so can I.” Here are the 10 stages one goes through while getting rid of a pixie cut. And there will be some points where I wish I were exaggerating, but sadly I am not. You have been warned.

1. Beginner’s Excitement

You’ve done it—you’ve made

the life-altering decision to grow your hair back out. At this point in the process, the world is your oyster. All you can do is go back and forth between searching for cute ways that celebrities have grown out their hair and girls with mermaid hair in various updos, trying to find inspiration. Feeling confident, you cancel your next appointment to get your hair trimmed.

2. First Experimental Stage

Now that you've gone more than 5 weeks without getting your hair cut, you're finally starting to see some significant growth and it's life affirming. Right now it's still short enough to qualify as a true 'pixie' but you can now experiment with longer versions of your old style, and you're totally into it. The only downside is that now you can't always let it air-dry or it'll do that weird frizzy thing you hate.

3. The Soccer Mom

It is at this stage that you will experience your first sliver of doubt about your pixie-growing mission. Your hair is now starting to get a bit helmet-y and heavy around the top, which is not the look you're going for. You've also realized that your haircut now resembles the short crop that is wildly popular among the 'mom-on-the-go' crowd and you feel like a poser because you don't have any kids or a mini van. Some days you find that you're able to wrestle it into a style that you actually like, but most of the time you just end up settling for 'Eh, it's good enough." In addition, this is the point where you're finding out that other people haven't even noticed that you've been growing out your hair, which makes you murderously angry.

4. The ‘I Refuse to Cut My Hair and Now I Kinda Have a Mullet’ Stage

This one is exactly what it sounds like, and it's every bit as unfortunate as you think. You've worked so hard on the hair you've been growing and you feel that to cut any length would cause a part of your soul to shrivel up and die. You delude yourself into thinking that "It's not actually a mullet yet, the back is just a little long." And you are absolutely wrong and need to be stopped. I suggest enlisting the help of a trusted friend prior to this stage so they can restrain you and trim the back of your head before you have too many pictures online as proof that you made this hair decision.

5. Second Experimental Stage

Now that you've acquired some decent length, you find yourself back on Pinterest searching for more hair inspiration. This leads you to believe that you can accomplish the various complicated braids and bobby-pinned styles that feature hair somewhat close to the length of yours. This is also where you realize that French braiding tiny pieces of hair while using a mirror is witchcraft, so you bitterly go back to your boring headband go-to look. In addition to this, you find out that celebrities look so effortless when they grow out their hair because of professional hairstylists, extensions, and good genetics, making you feel lied-to and even more bitter that you're not Emma Watson.

6. Potential Backslide

This is the stage in your hair journey where you are most vulnerable. Every day is either an 'OK Hair Day' or a 'Bad Hair Day,' which doesn't do much for your self-confidence. You start to remember how fabulous you felt with your pixie cut and the thought fills you with longing. It is crucial to stay away from Pinterest and Google Images at this point, because seeing a picture of Carey Mulligan or Ginnifer Goodwin could send you running for the salon, effectively ruining months of hard work.

7. Acceptance

You know that you have weeks to go before you can manage something resembling a ponytail and that you'll continue to have that "Ugh, it's still short" reaction anytime you look in the mirror for the foreseeable future—but you have accepted this. Whenever you see your awkward hair in contrast with someone else's majestic hair, you internally nod and whisper "Soon."

8. The Home Stretch

You've worked so hard for so long, and now it's finally starting to pay off. You're almost at 'bob length' and you're rocking it. Whenever someone compliments your hair, you sigh in relief because you can see the light at end of the 'awkward hair length tunnel.' But you're still kinda bitter that you can't figure out the cool braid hairstyles you found on Pinterest.

9. Pixie Envy

Somehow, even after you've attained the hair you've been dreaming of, you start to notice the fierce pixie cuts around you. They're starting to get to you, whispering to you in your dreams. You try to stay strong, but they're so persuasive and persistent, you start to waver. You hide all the scissors in your house and delete your hair stylist's number from your contacts so you won't be tempted. Still, you can feel your willpower crumbling. Think of the mermaid hair, the topknots, the French braids...

10. Whoops...

Aaaaand you failed. But at least you look fabulous.