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It’s all about the hair

December 15, 2009 by Wendy

Last night, Twin A was doing one of her American Girl quizzes with Little Miss about what she will be when she grows up. When all her answers pointed to “movie star,” I said, “Wow! Do you want to be a movie star?” wondering if she even knew what a movie star was. (Are there any movie stars anymore anyway?)

“Yeah,” she said, “but I’d rather be a mom. I just want to be a mom.”

Awwww,” the twins and I said in unison. That is so sweet to hear and  reinforcement that it really is OK to be “just a mom” sometimes.

Then she went on with her plans:

“I’m going to have two kids and their names are going to be Ashley and Sabannah.” (I’m pretty sure she meant “Savannah,” a name that occasionally comes up in the twins’ chatter about school. But Sabannah’s a cute name, too.)

“But what if you have boys?” I asked. “Then what would you name them?”

She looked at me like I had just told her that Santa wasn’t coming to town.

“I only want them to be girls,” she said.

“But what if God gives you boys? Then what?” I asked.

“Well, then I will tell you that I wanted them to be girls,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“And what will I do?”

“You would return them,” she said.

I, the queen of returning due to my indecisiveness, wasn’t at all surprised at her answer.

“You can’t just return a baby like it’s something you return to a store,” I explained.

“Oh.”

And that was that. I think I squelched her dream of being a mom.

It’s not that she doesn’t like boys, even though she’s growing up in an estrogen-drenched household. It’s all about the hair. She loves long hair. In her mind, if a woman has short hair, she’s a “lady,” and if a woman has long hair, she’s a “girl,” no matter how old they are.

I am a girl. That’s good, because I’m not ready to be a lady.

Her grandmothers are “ladies,” the twins’ teachers are “ladies,” but the weathered Safeway cashier with the long gray hair is a “girl.”

The only problem with this hair thing is only people with long hair can give her a bath or wipe her bottom. Which means there are tears and sometimes constipation when I’m not around to do those things for her.

Sometimes I think, what if I lose my hair due to illness or a fire or something, then what? Or even if I want to get a shorter hairstyle, for goodness sake!

“What if I had no hair sometime, or short hair? Would you still love me?” I asked her recently.

“Um, a little bit. I’ll say a little, OK?”

Ouch.

This is one phase I hope she outgrows soon. Either that, or she’d better hope that Fabio is available when she’s ready to start dating.


4 Comments »

  1. Karen Ludewig says:

    Enjoyed the story and had to laugh when you talked about the hair length. I know from first hand experience that Little Miss REALLY looked at me with that I don’t like your short hair, Grandma, look after I got my hair cut.

    I remember when you were little you always said if you had twins someday that you would name them Nutmeg and Cinnamon. I sure was holding my breath at the hospital when you told us what you and BK named the girls. Whew!

  2. sandy says:

    Thanks. I’d rather be the lady instead of the “weathered” cashier with long hair.

  3. sandy says:

    It is so easy to be bursting with pride with each of them.

  4. sandy says:

    Pop fixed the printer. I printed it all out & we started reading them & got carried away. We ALMOST ate after dark. Oh, no!

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