I cut my daughter’s hair tonight. I was scared to do it, but Luca told me she wanted it short and I decided I better jump at the opportunity because I have hoped she would want to try a shorter haircut, but I knew she had been growing it out for awhile.
I was really nervous to cut her hair. I have trimmed it a couple of times before, but I have never really changed the style.
I don’t make very even ponytails and I have tried and failed to French braid her hair more times than I can count. I really wasn’t the best choice for the job, but she told me she wanted me to be the one to do it so I did.
We dragged a chair to the bathroom and for an hour, maybe more, and I cut, sweated and tried to keep myself from picking up the phone to make an emergency phone call to my friend who is trained and licensed to cut hair.
We talked about school starting and how excited she is to be in the same class as several of her friends.
We talked about her fun day with some friends at the Museum of Flight.
Kai got into the bathroom closet and opened and handed Luca a tampon.
“What’s a tampon and what do you do with it anyways?” she asked.
(deep breath) It was time.
So we had the talk and it went rather well. She didn’t blush or get embarrassed and she had plenty of questions to ask.
This led to questions about whether I thought she would have smaller or larger breasts than mine when she was older.
“I just hope they are big enough to feed my babies”, she sighed.
I very maturely slipped into the other room for a minute so she wouldn’t see me laughing.
She was so patient with me as I had her turn her head one way and then the other. Then I would tell her to put her chin on her chest. Again! She held still and only wiggled when she had to brush the itchy hair off of her arms and neck.
We laughed about how we went to get school shoes for the kids today and after measuring their feet discovered that her and her five year old sister now wear the same size.
“She is going to have bigger feet than me by the end of the year!” she exclaimed.
“Well, you will get to see what it is like to wear HER hand me downs for a change!” I answered.
Her hair turned out fine despite my worries. I could have set up an appointment for her and got it done better, quicker, and for a reasonable price, but I am glad she wanted me to cut it.
She seemed older and more mature to me tonight as we chatted and giggled while I worked on her hair. I became aware that undeterred by my desire to keep her a little girl, she is growing up whether I like it or not.
“Mooooom!” Anna called out to me from her bed after Luca showed her the shorter style. “Luca wants to get her ears pierced now!”
(moment of anxiety)
One step at at time.
Whims 