Is it just me, or does my family have more than a normal share of hair woes? First of all, there’s Axa. I have a really hard time keeping up with her glorious copper tangle. Here’s a representative day:
As a matter of fact, my own hair doesn’t look all that great either, does it?
Recently, we’ve finally settled into a routine where Tony brushes Axa’s hair every morning and I braid it immediately, which keeps most of the tangles more or less under control. If we miss a day, though, we’re pretty much back to square one.
Fortunately, (since I’m sure we’d never stay on top of two unruly heads) Raj’s hair is straight and smooth, so it usually doesn’t give us much trouble.
He does have a bit of a hair fetish though, whether it’s other people’s, his own, or the sheepskin “snuggle thing” he’s had since babyhood. Very early on, he discovered this comforting position for the fingers of his right hand.
And as soon as his hair had grown out sufficiently to be noticeable to him, he employed his left hand in twirling it hypnotically around his fingers. From then to the present time, whenever he is upset, worried, overwhelmed, or even just sleepy, two fingers on his right hand go automatically to his mouth, and his left hand goes up to twirl his hair (or another person’s, if there’s someone handy).
This may be part of the reason it’s difficult to convince him to have haircuts. A casual look through photos of him from the past few years will turn up about 75% photos of him with his hair over his eyes. Because every time he needs a haircut, it takes me a couple of months to convince him. He’ll finally give in when (by his own admission) “I can only see when I’m running very fast.”
Here’s an example from Tunisia (before)
and (after).
That particular time I was lucky, because afterward instead of being upset with me (his usual hairdresser) for the loss of what he calls his “beautiful golden hair,” he was mad at the Tunisian hairdresser (who spoke very little English, and Tony says was convinced that Raj was a girl, because no Tunisian could conceive of letting his little boy grow his hair out so long).
Anyway. This time around, the hair cutting aftermath was more traumatic than usual. I cut his hair yesterday, and he’s had several meltdowns today, and keeps insisting that his ears are cold. This in spite of the fact that it’s been in the 90’s here all week long. I fashioned him a little headband to cover them, but it didn’t help much.
This hair thing is obviously a big deal to him. Usually he’ll eventually agree to a haircut when I point out the problem of his hair being in his eyes. But now he’s told me that next time he wants it cut in the front and left long in the back.
Wikipedia informs me that mullets are currently associated with country music, Swedish hockey players, and the Basque separatist movement. The mullet was also recently banned by Iran’s Islamist government. For whatever that’s worth.
Am I wrong, or should I not have to deal with this for at least ten more years?
So what do you think? Should I give my four-year-old a mullet?
I did bring up the idea of braiding it. He says he doesn’t like braids because only girls braid their hair.
Unfortunately bad hair and hair fetishes are both hereditary from our side of the family. Dear Raj looks so miserable with his ear warmer headband. Maybe you could just braid his hair every morning when you braid Axa’s.
business in the front… party in the back!