Haircut

This weekend, I took my daughter to get her hair cut before orchestra overnight camp for a week.  She had asked the lady to cut her long hair up to her underarm pit.  That is a good 6 inches of hair to lose.  With an agonizingly slow pace, her hair got shorter and shorter, creeping up to her shoulders.  One stylist after another came in to fix the “thickness” of her hair.  I can see the worries on my daughter’s face as she sees her hair going from an unwanted short hairstyle, into a long bob then medium bob.  I raised my index finger to my lips to signal for her to stay calm.  When it got to be a ridiculous fight over which side is longer and an hour later, I walked over to the third stylist and told her I just want to take my daughter home. The first lady said the haircut was free as it was so much shorter than what my daughter had asked for.  Four inches shorter to be precise, 10 inches cut off overall.  
As I walked towards the door, I laid my money on their countertop and left.  I paid for the haircut and left a tip.  It wasn’t for their (lack of) skill, but they tried.  Incompetency still needs to be paid.  I put my hand on my daughter’s back to show support in public. The minute we sat in the car, tears flowed and my heart ached for her.  She kept it together for so long and when it was safe to let go, she did.  I gave my motherly speech but it didn’t work.  Tears still came.  When we arrived home, I told her to sit down again so I can try to fix it.  After another 10 minutes, her hair line was much better.  I continued my motherly speech of how beautiful she is, regardless of hairstyle. She stood up, defeated, and went to take a shower.
Luckily for us, she is leaving for camp soon to be with her friends.  There she will be distracted with her peers and orchestra.  There is no time to fuss over hair.  I keep reminding her the hairstyle itself is not bad.  The problem lies in its short length.  But hair will grow again. When dinner came and went, she was already adapting to her new haircut.  The smile was back on her face.  She was talking away about her plans for camp.  She is a lot better than I at that age with a horrible haircut.  I remember being mad for days.   I’m so glad in this society, my daughter is not obsessed over hair.  I’m also glad she understands what we may not like at first can grow on us.
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This picture was taken the day before her haircut.  She had just came back from a company picnic trip with her uncle.  She was showing me her hummingbird tattoo. Luckily, she believed my speech that she is beautiful regardless of hairstyle.  I mean, seriously, look at those lips.