Apr

17

Surfer Boy

Posted by Summer M

April 17, 2008 |

It is getting critical again. The length of my youngest son’s hair, that is. I’ve been letting it grow out. It now hangs just below his shoulders in the back and looks incredible. It’s so soft and golden and perfect. Coupled with his little personalized hemp necklaces, it makes him look like a tiny surfboarder. I just can’t bring myself to cut his hair off. I can barely bring myself to trim the bangs!

Normally, the kids’ hair falls well within the Province of Mom –safe from Dad’s Clippers of Doom. This works well as long as the boys look reasonably neat and tidy. In the last month, though, people have started telling my husband and I how lucky we were to have such a beautiful little girl. It was funny the first time. Trooper giggled, I smiled, Admiral Bean (my husband) laughed and corrected them. The second time, I smiled again and Admiral hurried to correct them. The third time, Trooper was still laughing at the silly people who didn’t know he was a boy. The Admiral was openly glaring at me in public.

I’m not the brightest cookie in the shed, but I realized my son’s treasured ’surfer boy’ style was in immediate danger of becoming something more akin to a ‘boot camp’ look. I had to think fast if I was going to save his lovely locks from the Clippers of Doom. Then, it hit me. What girl wouldn’t love to have hair like my little Trooper? The next time someone commented on his hair, I smiled and told them that we were growing it out for Locks of Love.

The glares have stopped at home, though I still catch the Admiral watching me brush Trooper’s hair with a calculating gleam in his eye. No doubt, he is trying to guess when it will be long enough to cut off.

I’m surprisely happy with this solution, too, even if it means his hair will get that military look in the near future. It is comforting to know that all that sun-kissed beauty isn’t being wasted. If I am honest, I also look forward to the day when brushing his hair doesn’t mean actually brushing (or de-tangling!) it but instead simply running a towel over it and sending him on his way.

We have about 3 inches (five months?) left to go. By the time Trooper starts kindergarden this fall, he should weigh a few ounces less. In the meantime, I’ve started keeping Trooper’s bangs a little shorter and that seems to appease the Admiral and all of Trooper’s well-meaning and misinformed admirers. Well, mostly.


Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. Sara on April 17, 2008 4:17 pm

    Confession: I do love your boys in buzz cuts and it’s taken me a while to like Trooper’s hair. The first time I met them, they looked so cute in their matching outfits and short, short hair… but the surfer look has grown on me.

  2. Little Man's Mama on April 19, 2008 8:23 pm

    It’s strange for me to think of your little guys (either one of them) with long surfer boy hair. Growing up military, long hair was a no-no and something boys just did NOT do. Actually in MY house long hair was something noone was allowed to do because of its “untamed, unkept appearance”. This is probably the reason why I took so long to cut the girls’ hair even when it was in their eyes and even when it was a tad unruly…

    I know now that I have my little man I am going to struggle with a whole new set of rules. Rather than dealing with the annual “to trim or not to trim” debate we have with the girls, I will be tormented bi-monthly on whether or not it really is time to cut off the little man’s hair again.

    Since their dad is going to be gone a while and I have vowed that he will be the one to start the hair cutting ritual for our precious boy I know that I have some time before I will have to face the trials. Regardless I already feel a little sad just thinking about that first haircut.

    As the person who posted before me, I guess what I am saying is I, too, prefer the traditional short little boy hair style; yet my mommy’s heart understands the hesitation, sadness, and even the slight regret.

  3. Christopher Waldrop on April 21, 2008 10:18 am

    I’m not speaking as a parent here, but an adult who decided as a teenager to grow out his hair. My parents had their objections, and spent most of my four years in college telling me I’d never get a job until I cut my hair. And yet I’ve held a series of good jobs and, so far, the only problem I’ve had with my hair is being occasionally called “ma’am”. And I’ve been called worse things. What I’m getting at is, I sympathize with the difficulties of deciding when to cut Trooper’s hair, but I’m sure it will make you more understanding when he hits his rebellious phase and decides on some really crazy look…like a buzz cut!

  4. Little Miss Know it All on April 21, 2008 10:50 am

    I love Trooper’s hair! He’s soooo cute!

    Now, mine looks more like an unruly moptop…if only I could get the junior know-it-all to sit for a hair cut without hitting and screaming….

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