First Hair Cut

His hair. The topic of many questions and conversations. Some would say how gorgeous it was, others would question why. This boy’s long hair was never intended to be a “thing” to talk about. The point was never to see how long it could get or to be cool. We all dress our children in the clothes we choose to buy for them. Even when our toddlers tell us what they want to wear, that mix match of colors and patterns comes from a closet we chose. Little boys have their hair cut to look like their Daddy’s or to suit the preference of their parents. Little girls have adorable bobs with big bangs, or long curls draping down their backs because someone decided for them to cut or not cut their hair.

Speaking on the matter of preference, Maggie has always loved long hair on boys, and so has Betty. In middle school Maggie was in love with Jordan Catalano who’s dark brown locks brushed his shoulders and never stayed behind his ear. Betty’s boyfriend, now husband (and Maggie’s Father) spent his summers at the beach and was the epitome of a surfer with hair halfway down his back. So the look of men with hair has just been normal to us. Even John John, Betty’s son and Maggie’s brother, spent years of his childhood with hair past his shoulders. To us, it’s normal. And we love it.

So when Sweet Cheeks was born, with a full head of hair, Maggie decided not to cut it for a while. She just let it grow. And it did. By the time he was a year old Sweet Cheeks was sporting a side bang and had some flips at the base of his neck. A few months later it was long enough to put into a ponytail, keeping the hair out of his eyes. By 2, it was long, down to his shoulders and was usually clipped back while he played. At 3, you can see in the photo above that his golden strands were almost as long as his mamas, coming almost to his mid back. Along the way, during these 3 years we were constantly asked “why”?

After doing some research and reading more about other mothers who choose to keep their son’s hair long, Maggie became familiar with the Jewish tradition of the Upsherin and decided that it’s purpose and meaning was something beautiful to her. So she adopted the custom, and decided not to cut Sweet Cheek’s hair until his 3rd birthday.

The ends of his hair, the ones that remained on his head until just last week, were with him when he was born. They were the first silky strands his mama ran her fingers through every night while he nursed. They were the ones that started out dark brown, turned strawberry blonde, until settling on golden blonde. They made him a baby, our baby. As long as his hair remained with him, he didn’t belong to the world yet, he was still just for us. This is kind of what the Upsherin is about… when a boy’s hair is finally cut it represents his arrival to formal schooling and to the world. He leaves the home and becomes a “big boy”. Last week we looked at our baby and saw a big boy, and how lucky we are to have a healthy growing child who has come to be 3 years old!

What started as a matter simply of preference in style, turned into a new tradition in the family (or for Maggie at least). And before you ask, yes… she fully intends on growing the next baby’s hair for 3 years  😉

After taking a ton of photos of Sweet Cheeks with his long hair, we took him to our trusted friend Doni, owner of The Loft Salon in La Plata, MD. We put the ends of his hair in a ponytail, and Doni cut. That little ponytail will go straight to his baby book 🙂

He was such a good boy, and let Doni work her magic…

 

As you can see, a matter of preference still wins out, and we kept his hair “long” but trimmed and styled. Even Sweet Cheeks said “Mama, make sure she keeps it long like the soccer guys”. And so we did.

Thank you to Doni for being so wonderful! If it weren’t for you his hair might still be very, very long 😉