Pink Hair is a Life Lesson

A few weeks ago, my 11-year-old daughter begged me for an unconventional haircut.  Shaved on both sides and the back, with a half- angled bob cascading down one side of her cute face...she had been asking me for this haircut for a year, and I kept putting it off, it made me anxious, reminding her that when she cut her hair short the last time, it bothered her that people thought she was a boy.  (she was 9.) Well, already at 11, there is no question that she is a girl.  And she was adamant.  "I don't care what anyone thinks, I LOVE this hairstyle and I really want it!"  Ok. 
I will step out of my own judgmental thought process here, my surprising conventional approach on this, and "let" her cut her hair any way she wants.  Who am I to tell this beautiful girl she can't have her hair short?  How does this affect me?  Me, who laughs when I go to the grocery store, sans makeup and bra, ponytail held back by a bandana, and realizing after a glimpse of my reflection in the grocery freezer door that I fit a few unflattering stereotypes myself.  Judge away, world, I think to myself.  I have kids to cook for.  I get my milk and go home.  I don't care what others think of me; but I am so protective over my kids, I want so much to protect them from the harsh judgments of others, their peers especially.  Kids can be so cruel.  But I want my kids to be better than that, to withhold their own judgment of others, to be kinder and stronger than what has become the new cool:  Bullying those who are "different."  I know, bullying has been around as long as civilization and probably before, but technology has brought it to a new high...but that's a whole different post. 

The look on her face as she examined her new haircut in the mirror erased any doubts I had about it.  She was GLOWING.  She was ecstatic.  She looks beautiful.  All of her friends love it.  One boy at school called her Miley Cyrus.  She responded, "I wear a lot more clothes than that chick, but thanks for the recognition."  A week after we cut her hair, she told me she wanted to dye it pink for the month of October, for breast cancer awareness.  So we did. 

I am thankful for this spirited daughter.  I am so grateful for the lessons she and her 4 siblings teach me, all the time.  I love how she steps out of her comfort zone, unknowingly setting the example for her mother that it's ok for me to step out of my comfort zone, too.  Her little sister loves the chance to do anything unconventional, so this was a no-brainer for her.  I love the silly faces in this picture, with one eating sushi and the other making what we call the Brizzo Face. 
(P.S. I love my pink hair.)