MadHatter has been asking me to cut her hair for a while now. Which is quite a change from about 6 months ago, when I couldn't trim the ends because then it wouldn't be long like Tangled. I convinced her to let me cut a couple of inches off exactly twice in the past year. So when she came to me about a month ago and told me that she wanted me to cut her hair so it looked just like mine, I was a bit skeptical. (For those who don't know me, I have a pretty short bob as seen in the picture up there in the right corner. Really short in comparison to MadHatters hair).
We discussed why she wanted to do it and I got: Because it will look pretty. It won't be so hot. Tangled cut her hair at the end of the movie. I can brush it by myself. I won't have to stand still so long in the morning when you do it.
Fairly well thought out answers for a 4 year old.
I questioned her endlessly: You do realize that it will take a long time to grow back once we cut it? You won't be able to put your hair in braids/ponytails/combination of the two? You do know that just because Tangled's hair changed colors when she cut it, yours will still be the same color? You can comb it by yourself, but we will still have to do it every morning. And others. I just wanted to make sure she understood what it meant to really cut her hair. Sure we have trimmed it before. We've even gone so far as to cut up to 3 inches off at one time. But this is the first time that we were going to CUT her hair and I didn't want it to end with both of us in tears.
MadHatter has always had hair. Always. She was born with a head full, and I mean full. We had no idea where her hair ended and her eyebrows began. And, unlike most babies, she never lost a single strand. She just kept adding to it. By her first birthday she had already had her first "haircut". By 18 months it was almost to her shoulders. But I loved it most when her cherubic cheeks were framed so perfectly by the short Dora the Explorer bob she had when she was a baby. But that is it - she was a baby. I was a bit apprehensive about cutting it all off.
Why? It's not my hair.
You're right. It's not my hair. But I have so few memories of MadHatter with short hair. It grew like a weed. In my mind, MadHatter has long flowing (tangled, messy) hair. I just didn't want to cut it and not recognize my own child. And it was a bit about hair envy too. She has the thickest, shiniest hair I think I have ever seen. Mine, not so much. If I had that hair it would be to the floor. And I would toss it over my shoulder every five minutes. Like they do in shampoo commercials.
Today, she begged and begged me to cut it. And convinced me she really was serious. So, while Stinkerbell slept, we gathered our tools and Mom gathered her courage. I took her picture - one last one with the long hair (though I have a feeling it will be back again someday)...
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| The before mug shot. |
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| She is so excited. She is even sitting still - for now... |
This child has some hair! It was an entire wig full when I was done. And I stopped taking time for pictures at this point because I had a lot of fine tuning to do. She was getting antsy to be done and I didn't want to cut something really wrong (or cut her). So camera was put down and I got to the business of evening it out and getting all of that thick hair the same length from underneath to top. Not an easy job - especially since this is the first hair cut I have even attempted (trims not withstanding). I think we did pretty good (though after taking her out of the shower, I did have to do a bit more trimming loose hairs).
She is in love with her new look. Can't stop playing with it and swishing her head around to make it move. She must feel about 10 lbs lighter and 50 degrees cooler.
And she is just as much my MadHatter with short hair as she was with long hair.
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