Lucy has VERY thick hair. Long, flowing, golden
hair. It's gorgeous. I know I'm biased because she's mine but it truly is
something of fairytails (see what I did there?) *wink*
Sometime today
(No, I don't know when because I am working from home and we are having a
virtual school day due to inclement weather so there were long stretches of time
where I was in the guest room working and the girls were left to themselves but
if I had to guess, I'd bet it was while Ester was on zoom for class.) ANYWAY,
Sometime today, Lu cut her own hair. She didn't cut all of it, just chunks here
and there. I didn't even notice until this evening when I went to braid it
before bed. I first noticed one short strand in the front, then I started to
look, like REALLY look and I saw short strands in several places.
I had a choice and a split second to make it. How was I going to react? I wanted to cry and
burst into laughter all at the same time, but I didn't. By some miracle of God,
I didn't. Hmm... now that I think about it, probably because I had a practice
round on my own sibling who chopped off their hair and I DID NOT react
with even an ounce of grace.
But with Lu, I thought "What message do I want to send to her right now?" Because whether we mean to or not, how we react to
something superficial like this DOES send a message.
So I asked calmly, "Lu, why
is some of your hair short?" Silence. Me again, calmly, "Lu, did you cut your
hair today?" She quietly says, "Yes."
She then shows me a box where she put it
and I realize at that moment that it's WAY more hair than I thought. She
continues, "I wanted to give it to girls who don't have hair so boys won't make
fun of them. I have a lot of hair so I thought I could give them just some of
it. I put it in this box so you can send it to them."
I wasn’t prepared for that answer. I was preparing to “practice what I preach” about looks not mattering when my kid wanted her hair different. I was preparing myself to talk about a lot of things, but not this.
I pause. I am amazed at her sweet heart. I hug her and
tell her that she has a heart of gold. I start to ask questions about these
girls that are being made fun of and she said it was from a video I showed
her... I don't remember showing her any video anytime recently. I remember when
she said she wanted to donate her hair (and did at age 5), showing her a video of
another little girl who donated her hair so that she would know what to expect
and be able to understand what she was requesting... and I think I've shown the
girls videos of other people shaving their heads in support of family members
for cancer, but whatever video about boys making fun of girls? It's not ringing
a bell.
Truth is, that part doesn't matter. I squeezed her tight and told her
that I was so proud of her for thinking of others and coming up with ways to
help. We went on to talk about the logistics of donating hair, reminding her
that it has to be put in a braid or ponytail and that it's best to leave that
part up to the professionals. She looked in the mirror and shrugged, "Well, I think it's
cute." I told her I agreed. She said, "Mom, all hair is beautiful. It doesn't
even matter."
And then I did cry. Proud big tears. And I laughed a little (at myself), too.
Above: The box of hair and below it, a picture of a proud and kind-hearted Lucy.
In case you are curious, we will go to a salon to have the remaining long pieces
cut in a way that can be donated.
