Frequently Frazzled: Alayna's First Haircut

Since before I ever had a daughter I always knew I wanted her to have long hair.

Most of my life up until I had kids... I always had long hair. I loved it. It was my pride and joy. It was beautiful. If I can scan some old pictures one of these days... I will show you. My parents never cut it... except occasional little trims just to keep it healthy but nothing noticeable. The very first time I EVER cut my hair I was in the 4th grade. And it went from past butt to above my shoulders. Talk about drastic. I really wanted it done because for 10 years I only knew long hair. I remember my Dad never wanted me to cut my hair. He used to always say he's be mad if we cut it. And when we did we were scared for him to see it. Now if you know my Dad, like really know him, you know he doesn't get mad. So it wasn't like we really feared him... but we knew he'd be shocked. I can't remember if he liked it or not... "Daddy, did you like it?" Probably did... my Daddy doesn't really care. And after that I kept it just below my shoulders until 6th grade. I always missed my hair and grew it out again (btw my hair grows REALLY fast anyway) and continued to have looooong beautiful (well taken care of) hair until I had Diego. And I chopped it off to above my shoulders again. And grew it out. Then chopped it again when I had Alayna. And grew it out again... and chopped it off again not even a week after having Arielle. Yes... I am weird. But guess what I am growing it out again. And everytime I do cut it all... I donate it to Locks of Love. It's so special what is done with the hair... and I feel proud when I can give that gift to someone else. I've done it 4 times in my life.

So, I get off track, but the story was... Jr and I decided before we ever even had out daughters that if we had girls... we wouldn't cut their hair. Everyone knew how strongly we felt about this. My parents really understood because they too did the same with us. (My sister was in 2nd grade when she first cut her hair) And both him and I loooooove long hair. Simple agreement right?

Wrong.

We went on a cruise in 2006 to celebrate my parents 25th wedding anniversary. Some 20 family members joined us and all without kids. At the time we only had Diego and Alayna. And for a week we left them with my Mother-in-Law (who wasn't my in-law yet since we weren't married). On the last day of our cruise once we finally docked back in San Pedro, California we called my mother-in-law to check on our kids. She then informed Jr, in an evil way might I add, that she had cut our 1 year old daughters hair and given her bangs. Of course Jr makes the mistake of telling me this while we're still on the boat waiting around to be called so we can get off. I was beyond furious! Furious can't even described how mad I was. I couldn't believe that my monster-in-law... err mother-in-law... had the audacity to cut knowing that it was one of the only things I was so passionate about. One of the things I wanted to save for a time when we could do it together. It was something SO special to me. Weird... maybe... but I always envisioned taking her for her first haircut. I had to wait another 36 hours before I even got back to Phoenix to pick up my kids.

To say we were mad was an understatement. We arrived to have her rub it in our face that she cut her hair. Of course she pretended it to be innocent and even saved me all the hair they cut off. What I did after that was a blur... I remember a lot of yelling on my part, more yelling on Jr's part, and some crying from his Mom after all was said and done. (Don't get me wrong my mother-in-law can be a nice lady... but 95% of the time she likes things her way... and she's used to ruling her kids lives.) Oh an a door flying off the handle. It was a really big argument. (And we've never had a huge one like that ever again... I think she got the point with me. She still tries sometimes... but she hasn't crossed me again.) Needless to say she didn't see her Grandkids for almost 8 months. Yes we were bitter... hair is nothing to be mad overthere was nothing we could do about it. It wasn't just about her hair... obviously hair grows back. But it was about the principle that she never respected us enough to follow our wishes. No matter how crazy she or anyone else thought they were. She was is our child and we want to raise her and groom her as we please. So we put it behind us... and still continued to never cut her hair. (And just so you know... I never kept the hair)

Well today we woke up and Jr's verbally running through a list of our agenda for the day. And then he asks... "Alayna's birthday is in a little over 2 weeks and so is her party... should we take her for her "first" haircut." (It is her first okay? That incident was erased from memory) So we did.

Nothing special. They took 2 inches off the bottom and gave her a few long layers. Anyone else may not notice a huge difference but it was enough for Jr and I... and her hair is back to being healthy and easy to comb. It was getting really tangled and I would spend too much time trying to comb it out. But today I popped the brush in and in literally 30 seconds it was all untangled. Sooo much better!

Anywho... after all my long stories... here's some pictures to document this special occasion. And I hope when we really chop her hair off for the first time... we can also donate her hair to Locks of Love.

She really liked the whole process... she thought it was fun sitting in a chair and getting her hair washed...