Hair

So in October last year Valerie asked me to cut her hair. She'd been asking for a long time, and finally one day I did it. I had just gotten up in the morning and hadn't had my coffee yet, but I really wanted to cut Gabriel's hair and I thought if I cut Val's hair first he'd be more amenable to being shorn himself.

How long it was

I asked, just before I snipped, if she wanted it long enough to put in a ponytail or not and she said no. I had such a sense of misgiving but I cut it anyway... and as soon as she looked in the mirror she ran to her room, threw herself face-down on the bed and cried.

The day I cut it

She hated it. I cannot tell you how horrible I felt. Hair grows back, and getting a haircut we hate is a rite of passage for all women and girls. But it sure twisted the knife later that day when she said, "Mom, I forgive you."

How it is now

A few days later I got my hair cut myself, so we could have short hair together. I'm about to trim her bangs for the fourth time since October... I think by her birthday in May it will be close to the length she originally wanted. We also had fun looking at this artist's renderings of Disney Princesses with short hair. 

I'm sure I have made and will continue to make worse mistakes as a parent but for some reason this is one I think I'll remember for a long time...