Separate Identities

I used to have the perfect hair routine for the girls.  Every summer when it was time for swim team they got cute short haircuts, which were so easy to care for during swim team and the rest of the summer.  Then they grew their hair out for the rest of the year.  By the time swim team came around every year I was ready for it to be short again—it was a great system.

(not that they were on the swim team when they were 4.  But isn’t this a seriously cute picture???)

 

Then last year my then 9 1/2 year olds rebelled.  They didn’t want it cut short, they wanted to grow it longer.  I bit my over-controlling tongue and agreed that they could grow their hair long if they wanted. 

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the long hair.  When it’s taken care of it’s really very pretty. 

 

But most of the time it looked scraggily, like they were poor orphan children.

 

I finally laid down the law a couple of months ago; in order for them to keep having their hair long it had to be fixed first thing every day.  And if they didn’t fix it I would fix it.  That was working fairly well, and I was enjoying my two girls with their beautiful hair. 

 

And then Jenna threw a wrench into my works.

She said that she wanted to have short hair.  And Rachel immediately said that she wanted to keep her hair long. 

 

I’ve known this day was coming, right?  My little girlies have to grow up and become their own people.  Complete with their separate identities.  And so I did what any self-respecting mom of multiples (who enjoys matching) would do.  I told Jenna that she could have her hair cut, just not until AFTER Easter. 

You see, I was already making the beautiful Easter dresses.  And I’d found headbands at the mall that matched the dressed perfectly.  And matching dresses and matching headbands need matching hair, at least for one day.

They sure were cute that Sunday.

 

And then guess what we did the day after Easter.

Yep.  We cut the hair.

 

ready to donate to locks of love

In the end the haircut is darling, just like I knew it would be. 

And if she needs to establish her unique identity, I guess this is better than a lot of other ways…