At least it will grow

There are certain things each young girl gets that bring her closer to womanhood. First bra, first razor, first other unmentionables… they each signal that the girl is growing up. But perhaps no event ushers her into womanhood quite like the first episode of hairstyle regret (HR).

I will now pause a moment so all you ladies can recall the first time you left the hair stylist in tears…

My first time was the summer after I turned 15. I’d spent the summer abroad and my mom decided to treat me to a really nice haircut. Only problem was I associated my newly longish hair with all the friends I’d left overseas. I think I made it to the car before bursting into tears.

While I know my girls will experience HR eventually, I was hoping they’d go many more years before it happened. But unfortunately, my dear Amy received her first HR yesterday.

She’s been growing her hair out for years, but as a result of flat ironing and drying and regular wear and tear, she had a ton of split ends. So she decided to go big and cut a bunch off.  We discussed how she’d pull it back for ballet and was she really sure she wanted to do this and was she really, REALLY sure? She said she was, so I took a seat in the lobby and waited.

Thirty minutes later, when I saw her with her new style, I was amazed.

She looked beautiful – absolutely beautiful. But I knew from the look on her face the HR was already setting in. Six hours later, she was coming to grips with the reality of shorter hair and was trying to figure out a few things she could do with the new ‘do.

Oh, my dear, sweet Amy. Welcome to womanhood. May your next trip to the salon be more joyful than this. And I'll share with you the words my mom shared with me as I sobbed in the car after my first HR: Thankfully, it will grow.

That look about sums it up...