Hair

Apparently, I have an attachment with hair. I can admit it. It likely stems from my childhood. There was a span of my life when my mother cut my hair like a boy. Short bangs, short sides, short back. Short. Short. Short. Sorry Mom, but it was awful, what were you thinking?

Maybe a few of you were lucky enough to suffer the same "boy-do" that I did. If so, maybe you are the only ones who can fully appreciate my angst.

Ya know, strike that. I should replace suffer with endure. At the time, I didn't seem to mind. I guess it's the same blissfully blind perception that any given 6 year old has. Ya know, running crazy through a water-park. Bathing suit hiked up the tush, hair going every which way. Racing up the waterslide-line-stairs, skipping as many stairs in between as your little legs will allow. Not an inkling of vanity to be found. Pure adrenaline. Those were the days.


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Anyway, enough about me and my hairless childhood. As you can tell from my Ava's hair, that isn't the case with my little girl. Her hair is long and curly and beautiful. I can't tell you how many strangers stop her and want to feel her hair or tell her how pretty it is. Especially when it's all wrapped up in tight little ringlets. I am also fully aware that there is another segment out there who do not share my rosy perception, at all. But, that's what makes the world go 'round, now isn't it?

Getting back to my point....

Ava has been asking me to get her hair cut to her shoulders for what seems like forever. I sort of ignored her at first because I thought it would pass. Even when we first took her to Snip-its, she wanted to get her hair cut "like Grams". Grams hair is shoulder length. In actuality, we got a few inch trim and that was that.

But, she hasn't stopped asking. She talks about it constantly. Every image she notices in a magazine, or on TV, or any person walking in a store, "Mommy, that's how I want my hair!" She has even gone as far as telling me, "Mommy, I know you don't want me to cut off my ponytail, but I really want to." I've even stooped so low as pointing out how pretty the princesses long hair is. I know, terrible. Sue me.

Well, after much ado, I am finally listening. What can I really do, it is her hair, after all. And, since it is so long, she's decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love.
She can't wait to "give her hair to all the little girls who don't have any". It's a great cause and I think it seems to mean a lot to her, so we're pretty pumped about it actually. To qualify for a donation, you must cut 10 inches, braided or in a ponytail. Then they have to take off another 2-3 inches to even the hair out. So, we're looking at 12-13 inches off her hair. Gasp!

Ava and I have made a pact to get our hair cut really short, together, after our beach vacation in August. Yeah, you heard me right, I said together! I've agreed to get mine seriously snipped as well. Why wait, you ask? Why after the beach vacation, wouldn't it make more sense to get a snip before hand, to stay cooler? Remember folks, you're still talking to the girl who wanted "honeymoon hair" on her honeymoon. Somewhere in there I associate the beach with long flowy hair. So, Ava will have it for one more year. Stay tuned for more about all this as the time approaches.

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What's that? Could there be even more hair news? YES, in fact there is!

My little Dean-O got his first big-boy haircut on Friday! His bangs were really long and I couldn't take it anymore. They are pin straight and they just cascade down his forehead like the teeth of a comb. So, I thought it no big deal to take him for his first trip to Snip-its and get a little trim.

Never did I anticipate the physically ill feeling I would have while my little boy was in that chair. I was completely fine at first, but then she just kept cutting and cutting and cutting. Cutting the back. Cutting the top. Cutting the front. The top was very long and she seemed to cut 2 inches from there. By the end of the trim I was past ready for her to be done. Then she spiked it. It was a cute idea, but it didn't come out that well. It just looked wet and felt hard. So, when we got home I washed the baby gel out and went with the natural look. Much better.

He was too cute sitting there in the chair getting his very first snip. My little boy is really growing up!
Remind me not to eat lunch before Ava's big cut! Breathe, Janis, breathe.

(see slideshow of Dean's first haircut below)