This may look like an ordinary picture of an ordinary pony tail, but it isn't. This particular pony tail represents a
HUGE victory for me.
You see, ever since this day back at the beginning of June, (yes, June - 5 months ago!) when Samantha's hair looked like this:
and then following much discussion, bargaining and a large monetary gain on her part, she had 8 inches cut off and then it looked like this:
Mind you, she was all a part of this and decided on the amount to cut off herself. But I digress. Ever since the day in early June when she got her haircut, she has worn her hair in a bun every day. Yes, every. single. day. (Oops, sorry, after much battling, I got her to wear her hair down for picture day at school, but only highly curled so that no one could see how "short" it really was. So every day, but one.) Really, truly, she has not left the house without her hair in a bun or maybe tucked up in a hat for over 5 months. The girl still has long, beautiful hair. This has been making me absolutely crazy, because I think she is so lucky to have the hair she does and she keeps it hidden every day. So, you can see why the fact that she left the house with her hair in a ponytail - exposed, where everyone would be able to see how "short" it was, was a HUGE victory. Of course, she considered whether she would see anyone she knew before agreeing to it, and it went back inside a hat later in the day when she went out, but still, I will take the victory no matter how small. We have fought and fought and fought, until one day when I realized that I had let Jonas have hair like this:
and like this:
without any bit of a fight at all. Did I think he looked a little ridiculous? Absolutely. He essentially looked like he had a lion's mane around his head all the time. Yet, I never fought with him about it, because it just didn't seem worth it. It was only hair after all. So I have been trying my best to not battle with Samantha over her hair anymore. I still ask frequently if she will please wear it down or in braids or ponytails or anything different, but I am trying not to fight about it. Mostly I feel sad that her identity is tied up so much in the length of her hair that she doesn't want anyone to know that it is shorter. If I had known it would be this hard, I would have only had 3 or 4 inches cut off as per her usual haircut, but I can't change the past, so I am just hopeful that I don't have to wait until all 8 inches have grown back before I get to see her hair down again. (She is going to be furious if she sees this post because, of course, she doesn't want anyone to see her short hair. So please, don't mention it to her and I'll have to bury it under some other newer posts and hope she doesn't find it.)
You see, ever since this day back at the beginning of June, (yes, June - 5 months ago!) when Samantha's hair looked like this:
and then following much discussion, bargaining and a large monetary gain on her part, she had 8 inches cut off and then it looked like this:
Mind you, she was all a part of this and decided on the amount to cut off herself. But I digress. Ever since the day in early June when she got her haircut, she has worn her hair in a bun every day. Yes, every. single. day. (Oops, sorry, after much battling, I got her to wear her hair down for picture day at school, but only highly curled so that no one could see how "short" it really was. So every day, but one.) Really, truly, she has not left the house without her hair in a bun or maybe tucked up in a hat for over 5 months. The girl still has long, beautiful hair. This has been making me absolutely crazy, because I think she is so lucky to have the hair she does and she keeps it hidden every day. So, you can see why the fact that she left the house with her hair in a ponytail - exposed, where everyone would be able to see how "short" it was, was a HUGE victory. Of course, she considered whether she would see anyone she knew before agreeing to it, and it went back inside a hat later in the day when she went out, but still, I will take the victory no matter how small. We have fought and fought and fought, until one day when I realized that I had let Jonas have hair like this:
and like this:
without any bit of a fight at all. Did I think he looked a little ridiculous? Absolutely. He essentially looked like he had a lion's mane around his head all the time. Yet, I never fought with him about it, because it just didn't seem worth it. It was only hair after all. So I have been trying my best to not battle with Samantha over her hair anymore. I still ask frequently if she will please wear it down or in braids or ponytails or anything different, but I am trying not to fight about it. Mostly I feel sad that her identity is tied up so much in the length of her hair that she doesn't want anyone to know that it is shorter. If I had known it would be this hard, I would have only had 3 or 4 inches cut off as per her usual haircut, but I can't change the past, so I am just hopeful that I don't have to wait until all 8 inches have grown back before I get to see her hair down again. (She is going to be furious if she sees this post because, of course, she doesn't want anyone to see her short hair. So please, don't mention it to her and I'll have to bury it under some other newer posts and hope she doesn't find it.)
1 comment:
Ah, the joys of raising girls. You really are an incredible mom, maybe it is wisdom that comes with 5. (I doubt we will ever make it that far to see if I could be as wise and calm as you.)
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