I have mentioned several times about how my daughter seems to be years ahead of herself in maturity and intelligence. It's absolutely amazing the innocence and depth that children possess.
Years ago I decided that I wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love. Unfortunately, I have issues with taking out stress on my hair, therefore I color it or cut it regularly. Due to the process involved in creating hair pieces they need long, healthy, un-colored hair. Since college, my hair hasn't been longer then shoulder length or anywhere near its natural color.
I knew after doing this research, that I would never be able to donate my hair. My daughter being ever so observant asked me why I was so upset. I tried my best to explain to a then 4 year old about the reasons for Locks of Love. It was difficult, depressing and utterly uncomfortable to explain how not everyone is blessed with health.
Princess, being the empathetic person she is, understood and immediately stated that she wanted to give her hair to people who couldn't grow their own. What had left me depressed just minutes ago, had me amazed and proud of such a huge personality trapped in a little girl's body.
So for the next two years we have been taking care of her gorgeous blonde hair in order to whack it off and give it away. Every few months she had me measure it to see how close she was. Not once during this entire period, did she every change her mind. Our goal was to have it long enough, she could easily cut off the minimum requirement (10 inches) and still have neck or shoulder length hair. She is about one inch from neck-length haircut.
After helping her wash her hair this evening, I came to the realization that her type of hair might not be able to make it that last inch. For every person, no matter the hair type, there is this magic length at which hair stops being healthy. Her hair appears to be thick, however it is actually pretty fine, so I'm amazed it made to the length it has. After leaving conditioner in it, spraying with detangler and working out clumps of tangles, I had to finally come to terms that this was probably her magic length...just one inch shy of our goal. I was heartbroken for her.
In one last attempt to save our goal, I thought maybe it was just split-ends wreaking havoc, because then we could get a trim and let it grow some more. However, after relentless searching, I couldn't find a single split end.
I got out the ruler and checked to see if maybe I was wrong and we actually had hit our target. The number 9 kept staring back at me, no matter what chunk of hair I measured.
Princess: "How much more Mommy?"
Me: "Still one more inch, unless you want to cut it higher."
Princess: "OK"
Me: "OK, what? You want to cut it higher?"
Princess: "Sure."
I measure up to 10 inches, the magic number. It would be about the middle of her ear in length. I show her with my finger the magic length and then try my best to show her what her hair would like that short.
Princess: "OK, when can I cut it?"
Me: "Um, go show your father."
MD: "That's pretty short, are you sure you want to cut it now? If so, we can make an appointment this week and we can donate it."
Princess: without hesitation..."I want to give my hair to someone who needs it."
MD: "Sounds good, why don't you take a day or two and think about it, and if that's what you want to do, Mommy will make you an appointment."
Now Princess is off making a pretty big decision for a 6 year old. I'm in shock, I think. My daughter is such a better person than I am, and I'm worried that she may regret cutting it so short. However, I already know that as soon as it is cut, she will start asking how much longer until we can cut it again. Princess has mentioned before how she wants to keep donating her hair to Locks of Love. At 6, she already understands that it's just hair and it doesn't define her in any way. So, how do I come to terms with it?
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