A Whole New Katie!

Contemplating the big change.

Katie has been growing her hair out forever.  Ever since . . .

The Unfortunate Homemade Marshmallow Incident of Christmas 2010

. . .when Katie got a patch of her hair ripped from her skull after getting it caught in the Kitchenaid mixer, Katie has been hesitant to have us touch her hair.  She's gotten a trim here or there, but mostly Katie has been content to let her hair grow and grow and grow.  But it has just gotten too long.  Katie has super fine hair like me, but it also has a bit of a wave to it, and more often than not it just ends up as a huge nest of a mess when she awakes each day.  Add to that an abnormally sensitive scalp and a tendency to wait until the absolute last second to try and brush it out . . . well, let's just say that more than a few tears have been shed while Katie gets ready for school each day.  I knew that something had to change, so we decided to cut it a lot shorter to help it become a bit more manageable.  I was planning on having them cut it to about shoulder length, but with Katie's hair as long as it was I knew that there was an opportunity to donate her hair to Locks of Love.  Check it out.  It is an amazing program where disadvantaged youth who have hair loss due to medical treatments (most generally cancer) are able to receive a wig made of donated hair.  Katie needed to have ten inches available to donate.  She had the ten inches, but her hair would have to be cut a bit above her natural hairline.  That was going to be a significant change for my long haired beauty.  Would she be willing to part with her long loved hair?  We would see.

Before the cut.  Katie said she was ready to do it.  No concerns at all.

Okay.  Maybe a few concerns.  She loved her long hair!

As Bernie, Hairstylist Extraordinaire, started the shampoo, Katie's nerves started racing.  Katie does this thing where she blinks her eyes over and over and over whenever she is trying not to cry, and during the shampoo her eyes were blinking like mad.  Bernie and I kept repeating that Katie did not have to do this if she didn't want to.  Bernie was not going to cut anything off unless she was absolutely sure that Katie wanted it to be cut.  Katie kept assuring me that she was okay.  As the rinse was completed Katie said, "Mom I am 125% sure!"

So off came the hair! 

Bernie spent a long time styling Katie's new shorter do, and it looked super cute.  It made her look so much older, and I was amazed to see just how thick her hair was.  And adorable!  Hopefully it will be much easier to take care of.

Here is Katie outside the salon holding her newly cut hair.

The bundle of hair looks like a dead ferret.

And here's the new do.  This angle doesn't show just how cute the whole cut is, but trust me, it's lovely!

So overall it was a very positive experience for Katie.  No tears.  Big smiles.  A cute new hairdo and the satisfaction of doing a little something to help someone in need.  A great way to spend a Thursday afternoon!