Zachary needed a haircut. Our favorite stylist recently had a baby and is out until May. I thought I could get him in before she left, but we didn’t make it in time.
He was so shaggy and disheveled looking, I could take it no longer.
It’s not only that Katie is our favorite. She is kind, personable, and does an excellent job, but it’s also that she knows Zachary’s hair. I know, this sounds perhaps silly when talking about an 8 year old boy, but the kid has a double crown with fine, straight hair (one of the few things he inherited from me).
If you know Zachary, you are well aware that his hair is sticking up 99% of the time. Really the only time it doesn’t is either if it is freshly cut or soaking wet. It’s almost a trademark to his look, much like his new favorite character, Harry Potter. (I wonder if Harry has a double crown too?)
It doesn’t bother me too much as long as his hair is short-ish. It’s when it’s grown too long that it is completely out of control. When he starts to look like Peter Pan from the movie Hook, I think he is due for a trim.
When Zachary was younger, we had an… unsatisfying experience with his hair. He was only 2 or 3 years old and I think it ruined my trust in untested stylists. Stefan had taken him to get it cut and he knew I would not be happy. We went right back to the shop as soon as I saw him. Let’s just say it was reminiscent of Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber.
We took him back in, and Katie fixed it. Since then, no one else has been allowed to cut his hair. Zachary probably doesn’t remember this, but he knows the story, and knows that I won’t let anyone else attempt it.
Here we were. No Katie, shaggy Zachary.
Gavin’s hair is much easier to deal with. It’s a little thicker, lays pretty easily, and no cowlicks or double crown. Therefore, I have been more lenient in who can cut his hair. There is another girl who has done Gavin’s before (and also did it recently) and she does a great job. After a couple weeks of talking about it (to mentally prepare the boy who hates change), I took him to get his mop-head cleaned up.
Sometimes being forced to try the unknown, it can bring us back to the familiar.
As she cut away all the crazy hair, it was a relief. Removing the excess, all that covered up who he is. And I saw his shining little face, hazel eyes, my oldest son who’d been lost beneath the overgrowth.
I had a feeling like homesickness wash over me as his long eyelashes and bright cheeks were revealed. It was like I had been missing him and didn’t realize it. Like he’d been buried, lost, for a while and he finally came home.
It sounds silly when I say it out loud. But it was like he did all this growing underneath that hair, and I’d forgotten what he looked like.
We were both fearful to trust someone new, and of the possible outcome. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just my inconvenient double crown he inherited. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized I had pushed my own fears on him.
I never want my boys to be afraid of trying new things. Scratch that. It always IS a little scary to try new things, but I do not want FEAR to stop them. I don’t want them to think they have to control every outcome. I want them to be able to let go and know that even though situations may be out of their hands, it is never out of God’s hands.
Little daily chances to trust lead to big opportunities to trust. And that is the path I want my boys to frequent. The road that leads to them trusting in the Lord and watching Him do big things with their little choices.
“If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” Luke 16:10 NLT
And now we have TWO favorite hair stylists 🙂
Jodi Arndt 