Thursday, June 23, 2011

8 Inches

Today started just like any other "ordinary" day. Got up, kids got up, had breakfast, gave baths (which doesn't usually happen in the morning, but we had plans today and the kiddos were DIR-TY!), got everyone dressed, dropped the dog off at the groomer, went to lunch with my boss and coworkers for the boss's birthday, and then we were en route to the "haircutters" for a trim for Sophia when a Tornado Warning came across the radio. So, we detoured home for a bit and while we were waiting for the storm to pass, Angelina asked if she, too, could get a trim. I said "sure" and we hopped in the ol' van-a-roo and headed to Walmart. And yes, I take my kids the salon in Walmart. JohnnaBeth does a GREAT job and is so good with the kiddos...I highly recommend her! Anyhow, we rolled into WallyWorld, signed in at the salon (can you call a haircutting place in Walmart a salon?! Heheheh) and waited our turn. Sophia went first and gleefully hopped up in the chair to get her hair washed. I sat there thinking "Why oh WHY can't she be this excited for ME to wash her hair at home?!" Anyhow, next she hopped into the chair in front of the mirror and JohnnaBeth began chopping off dead ends and fuzz until Sophia's hair no longer resembled a bird's nest hair-don't, but rather a well-coiffed hair-DO. Then it was Angelina's turn. She followed suit, hopping in the chair to get her hair washed and then skipped over the the "cutting chair", as she so coined it. Then she said, "Momma, can I cut my hair a little shorter than usual so it's curly like Sophia's." Well, I immediately said, "No, because your Daddy likes long hair." But she was persistent, and asked again. I tried calling Ernie, but didn't get an answer, so I texted him and asked if she could cut her hair shorter. His answer: NO. I told Angelina her Daddy nixed the idea, and her eyes welled up with tears. JohnnaBeth began our usual trim of an inch or two, but around that same time the manager of the store was talking with a teenager close by, explaining what Locks of Love is. Angelina heard this and turned to JohnnaBeth (and NOT me!) and asked "Do I have enough hair to do that?" Well, JohnnaBeth had already taken about two inches off the back, so she looked at me (who was giving the NO NO NO silent look) and hesitantly told Angelina she didn't think she'd have enough hair since we already cut it. Angelina looked so defeated, and she looked at me with puppy dog eyes and said, "Momma, I really wanna' give my hair to someone who doesn't have any." Well, who could say no to that?! So I tried to call Ernie again...no answer...but then I looked at my phone and several minutes before, after I had texted him how upset Angelina was that he said she couldn't cut her hair, he had texted me back "fine". Seeing that, I told Angelina "Daddy said you can cut your hair!" JohnnaBeth measured and SOMEHOW Angelina still had just over 8 inches of hair, even after the trim! So she put Angelina's hair in a ponytail and was JUST about the cut it off when suddenly a wave of panic (and nausea) spread over my body. I said (well, yelled) STOP! All of a sudden it dawned on me that it wasn't just Ernie who liked Angelina's long hair...it was me, too. I mean, after all, this baby was born bald as a cue ball and STAYED that way until nearly her 2nd birthday. It's been a 5 year process to get her long hair! How would I style it if it were short? Would it cut her curls off? How would I put it up so she wouldn't be hot at soccer? What about those mornings when I'm running late and literally pile it on top of her head and secure with a hair-band? And as I was silently panicking, Angelina said, "Mommy, there's some little girl who doesn't have any hair who realllllly needs my hair." Well shoot...suddenly my anguish and panic over a stinkin' haircut didn't seem legit at all. While I sat there lamenting over Angelina's hair, there was a mother and father who found out their little girl, the same age as Angelina, has cancer. Right at that moment, somewhere, a family was burying a child, Angelina's age, who had just died. Right then, a little girl JUST like Angelina, who loves life to the fullest, was sitting in a hospital bed crying because the medicine she is getting to fight her cancer is making her hair fall out. How selfish of me to be so up-in-arms over a haircut...especially when, to Angelina, it was pretty cut and dry (no pun intended)- she had hair, someone else doesn't, and she had enough to spare that she could give some to them. Period. End of story. I looked at JohnnaBeth and just kinda nodded for her to proceed. And with a few snips, she cut off Angelina's entire ponytail. When she held it up for Angelina to see, Angelina gasped and JohnnaBeth said "Now don't cry, please!" But Angelina's face was quickly taken over by a cheek to cheek smile, and she said "Cry? Why would I cry? I am excited! Will I get to meet the little girl who is gonna' get my hair?" Wow. What a humbling, awesome moment. My FIVE year old just seemed to "get it"...that we are called to help people, even when it means giving up something of our own, and that we are to be EXCITED about it! 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." And what a cheerful giver she was...and what a proud Momma I am.






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