Gone, Baby, Gone

Last week I finally had to give in and take Beatrice to get her hair cut. It was way too long - in her face, in her bum, in huge tangles it was so long. Here she is post beauty salon:

Yes, the girl knows how to rock a pose, huh? And sure it looks nice and everything, but still I'm heartbroken. Some how her head of big, beautiful banana curls has turned stick straight. Just like mine.

I've wanted curly hair my whole life. Those round, bouncy ringlets just make me crazy. My hair is limp, thin, and straight as an arrow and I tried mercilessly as a kid of the '80's to get it to hold a perm, to curl with the big rollers or the hot iron, even to crimp. And it will for about as long as it takes to get from the bathroom to the hallway. I wasted a lot of time trying to make my hair hold a curl, then gave up, got married, and started having kids.

Imagine my utter joy at having my second daughter come along with exactly the hair I've envied forever. Oh, those banana curls melt my heart. I would comb it with awe, especially as it got longer and curlier. People would stop me in stores and exclaim about her beautiful hair and I would beam.

But then I noticed about a year ago that the stuff on top wasn't quite as curly. I figured her hair was just so long that it was weighing down the rest. So I took her for a trim. As the stylist took a couple of inches off the bottom we both knew that it wasn't a weight issue, her hair simply wasn't curly anymore. And still I pretended that it wasn't so. I almost tried to will those curls to grow back in. And I also refused to cut Bee's hair just incase those were the last of the ringlets. I still loved them and wanted her to be my curly-headed daughter. But the thing about hair is even if you don't want to, you simply have to cut it eventually.

So, with angst and a heavy heart I took her back to the stylist a year later. And now the curls are all gone. Just straight hair. But at least it's thick. Maybe she'll have more luck with the curling iron than I ever did. Besides, I suppose it's really not fair to Maggie if Beatrice gets all of the luxurious curl. Now they're on even hair terms. Always a good thing for sisters.

Here's a tribute to Little Bee's Beautiful Curly Tresses. I miss them so.