So I have been totally dreading this day pretty much since the day Avery was born. I have always loved her hair. The color, the texture, and especially the length. It just grew so fast and so beautifully. She is not a huge fan of people messing with her hair but thankfully I convinced her enough to let me do an "Elsa braid" in her hair from time to time, which lets me play with it. It has been increasingly more difficult to tame her wild hair, however, now that it has grown super long and thick. The child is constantly in the dirt, in the sand, in the pool, with sun screen and sweat. Needless to say, its torture to brush the girl's hair. As much as I love love love her hair I knew it had to go.
I certainly did not have to chop off all of her hair like I did. I could have cut a few inches off to make it more manageable for the summer and been more conservative. But to me, if I am going to cut hair, I like to make it worth my while. Ever since I was in high school I have grown my hair long and then chopped it off to donate. I'll never forget at the end of my junior year of high school I went and got my senior photos taken then headed right for my hair dresser and cut off 14" of my hair to donate (I almost cried from shock). But hair is hair and it grows back. And since then I have done the same thing. My hair grows fast and I would not call myself a frequent hair salon customer. So I usually go once every year - year and a half and chop it and donate it.
So I've been pondering what to do about Avery's hair for awhile. Totally avoiding cutting it because like I said I love it so much. But it really was getting super long and something needed to be done. I feel very strongly, personally, about donating hair. More recently this subject has hit close to home. Last September a close friend of mine from high school passed away from breast cancer at the young age of 32 who had gone through numerous chemo treatments and in January my niece Maura started chemo therapy due to a tumor in her brain. I want Avery to make her own choices about her body so if she continues to want to donate her hair then fantastic but if not that is okay too. So it was very important to me to make sure Avery understood what she was doing and that she was okay with it. We have been talking about it for awhile. I explained to her what would happen to her hair and how some other little boys and girls are unable to grow their own hair for various reasons and they need other people's hair to make them feel better. We had many different conversations so that she could understand and also be excited and proud of herself for what she was going to do. I did some research on what organization I wanted to use. I had been using Pantene for myself, but they are no longer accepting donations. I wanted to make sure the organization did not require their applicants to pay for a wig, as some do. Children With Hair Loss is the organization I chose. They are non profit and give their wigs to children for free. I wanted Avery to understand that other children her age are not always able to grow their own hair and that her hair would go to a child like herself. She was very happy to know that she was going to help another little girl or boy.
I was going to have it professionally done until covid 19 happened. I knew it still needed to be cut because I could not last all summer with her hair the way it was with all of the summer activities that cause daily snarls (and for Avery's hair it does not take much!) So I said "screw it" and I bought some good hair cutting scissors and did it myself. First time ever cutting hair and I decided to chop my kid's hair. Yes, I am insane. I asked Avery if she was ready. She took a deep breath and said "Yes. I am going to be brave." Haha me too, kid, me too!! It certainly was not a perfect cut, but it will do! She loves her new hair and was so happy to share it. I hope her passion for this cause continues to be important to her like it is to me. Such a simple and easy, but important, gift to give. I am very proud of Avery and she is proud of herself too!
