Spiky Hair...Part 3

I promise this will be my last post about spiky hair!

Friday morning was the first day that my son wore his new haircut to school. He was very excited to show it off to his friends. Although I had not done a bad job, the hair needed to be just a tad shorter to really look right. I told him that I would finish later that night before bathtime.

The day passed uneventfully and as the evening wore on I told him that I would finish his haircut. He was playing on the floor with his beloved Hot Wheels cars and he got suddenly quiet.

"That's OK. I decided I don't want spiky hair," he said, while looking down at the car in his hands.

I was taken aback for a moment because he had been so enthusiastic about it previously.

"Why?" I asked.

"I just don't want to," he said.

Probing a little further, "But you were so excited about your hair. Didn't you like it?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't you want me to finish the hair cut?"

His lower lip trembled and his eyes teared up a little, "Because my friends were laughing about my hair."

My heart sank. Only five years old and already having to deal with the sting of peer rejection.

I called him up to the couch with me and talked about it with him. It became evident that no one had overtly said that they didn't like his hair; but, they had been surprised by the dramatic change and a few girls giggled at the wayward spikes. I reassured him that it was only because he had never worn his hair that way and they were simply surprised. Anytime someone changes their hair, people notice...like when I color my hair, or cut it differently. He seemed to be comforted by our discussion.

"Do you like your hair spiky?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied with a huge grin.

"Then, you should wear it the way that you want to wear it. Everyone will get used to it and they won't say anything about it anymore."

"OK."

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After church we were driving home and again talking about spiky hair. We were teasing him saying that maybe we should all get spiky haircuts so we would match.

"No, we should cut all our hair off and be bald!" he shouted, giggling through the words.

I asked our oldest if he would like to be bald.

"No way!" he replied, "But if I were, then I could be on Deal, or No Deal!"

Apparently, he thinks that being bald is a requirement for participation on the show. That's the only logic for Howie Mandel's shiny, bald head.