She was born with a thick head of dark hair. It only got lighter and thicker from there. She never had that time when it fell out like happens with a lot of babies. She never even really had that “baby” kind of hair. You know what I mean?  This wispy flyaway pieces. It’s always been like a big kid hair. 

She wore it long for years. Then one day she decided to wanted to cut it shorter. I decided if she wanted it that way, great, but we were going to donate it. And she was going to be CERTAIN. I explained to her once it was gone, we could not put it back. She seemed fine with it. After a lot of research about where to donate, my sister cut 12 inches in a couple of braids. It was so cute. The next day she asked me to glue it back on. She was not yet four years old. 

Several years later, she wanted to donate it again. It was a bear to maintain and was frequently in her face or food. So I brought her to a big girl salon. She loved it. We sent 12 more inches to Children with Hair Loss for donation. Then she promptly started growing it again. 

This past summer, she was in a wedding. She kept saying she wanted to cut it short. I reminder her of the wedding and convinced her to leave it long until after the big day. We set an appointment for the week after and she cut off about 10 more inches for donation. She said after the cut was complete that she wanted it even shorter and kind of wanted to shave it on one side. I told her that it is not something you kind of wanted to do…she needed to be 100% sure.

A week or two later, I noticed her choppy hair. She had cut it shorter herself. I could have killed her. She was so sure I was going to punish her. But the punishment was the terrible haircut. We’ve al been there having made a rash decision. Am I right? She needed to wait until our stylist could get her in to fix it.

It ended up being almost a month of a shitty shitty haircut. When our stylist could fit her in, I did allow her shave one side. Her inspiration was a character from Raya and the Last Dragon. She loves it and I have to say, it suits her.

She wants a fashion color on her ends over the summer.

Will I let her?  
Probably. 
Am I crazy?  
Maybe.

But it’s her hair and it grows back. It’s a way for her to express herself and hurts absolutely no one so why not? 

I am writing for the 19th annual Slice of Life challenge presented by Two Writing Teachers.