I am thankful for: hair. Lots of it.

My toddler has beautiful curly blond hair. The problem is that it is a bit long now and it's getting a bit wild, so I need to cut it. This would be her first cut and I find it hard to do. I have no idea why, but I just feel like I would be taking part of her away, though it would probably look much better.(nevermind that getting her to sit for 2 minutes will probably be impossible....) A lot of people make positive comments on her hair because not that many have curly hair here, and they assume (correctly) that she has inherited it from me (the foreigner) and not her dad (the local).

I had the same hair when I was small, but I don't remember (being either blond or having such curls) so I'm enjoying her curls vicariously. And this week-end as her grandmother kept telling me to cut her hair and how I should cut her hair and why I should cut her hair, I started thinking about my own hair. After years of colouring it it is no longer curly, and it is certainly not blond, but it's fine the way it is. 

I've never had a love-hate relationship with my hair. It's been extremely short (3mm at its shortest) and I've had it down to the middle of my back), I've had it "au naturel" (dark brown), blond, auburn, black and various shades of brown, I've had it in small tight braids, and I've been pretty happy with all of these variations. Mostly I've been very happy to have very thick hair. It kind of combs itself and does what it wants, but once we agree on how we want to look (with the help of a deft hair stylist), it pretty much stays true to form on its own. No need for combing actually (I just use my fingers), no need for sprays or gels or anything. And a few years ago I took medication that made my hair fall, and though the shower drain and my pillow were full of hair, and I was left with a healthy amount in my hand if I passed it through my hair, you couldn't actually tell when looking at it. That's how much I have. 

So although I don't LOVE LOVE LOVE my hair, it's been very good to me and suits me well (in the sense that I have no plans whatsoever to spend time in the bathroom in the morning, so it's perfect that I don't even need to brush it, and I can have it cut in ways that fit my face well) and I wouldn't really swap it for any other kind of hair. Maybe that's why I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to cut my toddler's hair: it's hers and its wild ways suit her well and I don't want to interfere in their relationship.