It's Only Hair

It'll grow back. Eventually.

Last month, my youngest, after more than a year of begging and protest, was finally allowed to have her hair cut to a style of her choosing. It's a radical, edgy cut for a 13-year-old, where more than half of her hair is cut close to her scalp. It's not shaved; merely, buzzed close.

The top of her hair is still long and she can tie it back into a short ponytail or pigtails.

Her hair still has an amber glow from a henna dye of more than six months ago.

I still remember and miss her long, slightly wavy blonde locks. That's the little girl that I remember. But she isn't a little girl anymore: she's a young teen and I have to respect how she wants to look.

I hold the line at any strange piercings or any tattoos (henna ones are okay).

So last month she cut her hair, and I have to admit that it looked much better than I imagined. It suited her, showed the confidence that she has exuded for years.

But after a month, the short areas began to grow and she wanted a trim. We knew that it was something that would begin to cost as time went on, so we decided to shop at Costco to see if we could find an economical solution. We succeeded, and picked up a good set of trimmers.

At home, we watched some YouTube videos that were produced by the manufacturer on the care and use of the clippers. We saw how to style hair just like hers, and we quickly went to work.

It was really easy, and before long, our daughter's hair looked just as it had when she went to the stylists.

"I should use those to trim my hair," I said. I had cancelled last week's appointment with my usual stylist because other plans came up and hadn't rescheduled. At the very least, I needed to shave the fuzz at the back of my neck and my sideburns, but DD13 became excited.

"Can I cut your hair?"

"Sure," the answer came, easier than I had intended. I thought I would let her clean up the back of my neck, where my hairline had become scraggly. I could trim my own sideburns. But no, she wanted to shorten my hair at the back, clean up around and above the ears. And again, my answer came easily. "Yeah, why not?"

We set up on the front porch, where the hair could be easily swept away, or would blow in the wind. I wrapped an old towel around my neck and shoulders, though it really didn't do any good at keeping the short clippings from finding their way down my shirt.

It's only hair, right?

What do you think? Not bad for her very first attempt, right?

With both of our haircuts, the clippers have now paid for themselves, but I'm sure they'll get more use as she continues to keep her hairstyle.

And she continues to improve on cutting mine.