A very typical untypical day- Post by Aimee

School starts next Monday....please pause as do a happy dance...As part of our annual preparing to go back to school I take Sophie for a trim. This has not always been an easy or enjoyable process. There have been times when the hairdresser has had to stand behind a trembling Sophie, gently spray tiny bits of water on her hair and practically snip on hair at a time.
 My friend Lis has the most adorable/cool haircut, it's short and sassy with a bit of edge. Sophie has become obsessed with this haircut. She refers to it as 'Donovan's mom's Mohawk'. Sunday morning she began to tell me over and over how much she wanted short hair. This is not the first time she has mentioned short hair so I took it a bit in stride. I asked her to describe what she wanted, reminded her that she would no longer be able to put it in a ponytail or have sisa braid it for her. She stood her ground. When we arrived at the hairdresser she immediately began telling her of the plan. The hairdresser looked at me with a question in her eyes, it's her hair she can cut it anyway she wants. We started to look through hair books to get a photo of the cut. We settled on Jennifer Lawrence's pixie cut, with the sides shaved Sophie reminded us. After her hair was cut and gel'd up into a little Mohawk Sophie stated that next time she wanted it dyed red and blue!
I posted before and after pictures on Facebook and received so many positive comments. I also got a few like, 'wow, you're a cool mom' 'wish my mom had been so hip'. It then occurred to me that this is by far the most typical thing my fourteen year old has ever done!!! Her doing something so typical filled me with glee. For a few years now I have watched as the kids of some of my friends, most younger than Sophie, have discovered the freedom in changing their hair. Twelve year olds with blue and pink streaks and thirteen year olds with asymmetrical trendy cuts. I will admit I have been envious of these parents sharing this fun experience with their kids. I am very much unbothered by her cutting her hair. I think its a terrific sign of growth and independence.....Best part is she can fix it herself no more mornings filled with screaming and crying, well at least no crying about tangles!