On long hair

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, Henry asked if I wPandora Rings trimmed ould straighten his hair. I straighten my hair a few times a week because it’s bleached out and doesn’t really ever curl any more. How could I say no to my adorable three and a half ear old asking for his hair to be like mamas? I could not. So, I straightened his hair and it was freaking long. Like down past his shoulder blades long. I never really think about how long his hair is unless we’re washing it, because it’s so dang curly.

Matt took one look at him post straightening and laughed his butt off. But he also said, “seeing his hair straight, I totally understand why people think he’s a girl.” Yep, people think Henry is a little girl and are always SO confused when he gets called by his name.

Henry had one hair cut once as a little baby toddler and we decided to just leave it after that. I’m so glad we did. In the 2 years since that haircut, his hair has grown out super curly and really lovely in colour. We’ve never really thought about cutting it again, and every time he asks, he quicvCheap Pandora Australia Sale kly recants because he loves his hair, as do we.

Now that he’s getting older, however, he’s noticing people calling him a girl and for a 3.5 year old boy trying to learn his identity, it’s hard on him. He yells, “I’M NOT A GIRL, I’M A HENRY!” at people, which is pretty adorable but I can see him getting frustrated. I don’t want him getting teased by other kids (they don’t bother him now but I worry they will in future, or a bigger kid might say something), but I also want him to be who he is. And yes, at 3.5, I think he’s a bit of a long haired hippy-rocker kid.

And it’s not kids so much as adults that I’m worried about. He’s starting to notice the squished up faces of people when they realize he’s a boy, or they hear his name. For now, he’s happy to know that people think he’s a girl because, as we tell him, he’s just so beautiful. I don’t ever want him to think it’s because he has long hair (even though that’s exactly why). If he wants to cut his hair, that’s fine by me (I might cry!) in the long run, but I don’t want him to do it because someone made him feel bad about it.

Trying to find the balance in self-acceptance vs protecting our kids is a hard line I didn’t think I’d have to cross so early in my kid’s life, but here we are.

What about you? Do you have a son with long hair? Would you let your son grow his hair long if he asked? What about a daughter who wanted a pixie cut? Would you let that happen?