Hair today, gone tomorrow

Younger Daughter has been wanting to cut her hair again. She has very thick hair that's hard to keep from getting knotted, so she likes it shorter. It's always harder on me than on the girls when I cut their hair 'cuz I love long hair!

Both girls cut their hair almost two years ago and donated it to Locks of Love. Older Daughter's hair isn't quite long enough to donate yet, and Younger Daughter's was barely long enough.

Here's the "before" picture:

In a pony tail at the minimum length...

Hold my breath and...chop!

She loves it short! (Don trimmed and evened it up later on.)

Seemed kind of strange to see this disembodied pony tail hanging around...

...but it will be put to good use.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

For some time now, my girls have been thinking about cutting their hair and donating the cuttings to Locks of Love, a charitable organization that makes specialized wigs for children who have either lost their hair due to disease, or to cancer treatments.

I confess I had mixed feelings about this. Not because of the magnanimous gesture - of course not! - but because I loved my girls' hair. But for pete's sake, it's not as if they were asking for a nose ring or a tattoo. They wanted to donate their hair to kids who didn't have any. How on earth could I argue with that?

So on December 27, we did it.

Donated hair has to be clean, and banded at the top either in a ponytail or (preferred) a braid.

Here's my older daughter's hair:


Here's my younger daughter's hair. She was most looking forward to cutting it because of the sheer length:


Our older daughter went first. The cut hair, excluding the hair band at top, must be at length ten inches long. Here's the top band:


Braiding:


Total length, about 14 inches:


A deep breath, then snip snip!


The disembodied braid and my daughter's new pixie cut:


Next it's our younger daughter's turn. Uncut, her hair measured 33 inches:


The braid was about eighteen inches:


Snip snip!


"Wow, I feel so light!" (That's our neighbor sitting in the background. He and his wife happened to be visiting during this momentous occasion.)


The final result. Both girls were delighted with the new sensation of short(er) hair, though they both intend to grow it back again.


One daughter said, "They need the hair more than I do." The other said, "My hair will grow back. Theirs won't."

What can I say? I'm proud as can be for my daughters' wishes to donate their hair.