My oldest daughter has gorgeous hair; like really gorgeous hair. She has that naturally curly, thick, long sun kissed locks down to her bottom that people would pay hundreds for… and you know what? It’s a Fucking nightmare! This kid was born with enough hair to do pigtails at minutes old. By one year of age she had a gorgeous little bob of curls that would make you swoon and by two she looked like a wood nymph out of your favorite fairy tale book.
But what most don’t know is what a battle that hair was. As a child my mother always kept my hair short in a little brown bob for as long as I can remember and I hated it, now I know that she was the smarted woman in the world.
At six years of age, bath time and mornings involve me having a full blown anxiety attack and sweaty palms at the mere thought of just bringing up the subject of either washing or brushing her hair. Bath time because an hour long of shrieking and crying to wash and rinse and brush it… I wouldn’t even dare bring up a blow dryer around her.
Six months ago I had a conversation with her about her hair. We talked about how she needed to let me wash it and we both needed to brush it because it was part of caring for her body and if in 6 months it didn’t get better we were going to cut it, and I don’t mean a trim.
Nothing changed in 6 months, and one night after cutting six dreads that were starting to form in the back of her head after an hour long fight I looked at her and said, “It’s time.”
But instead of turning this into what was going to seem like a punishment I talked to her about children in the world who are sick or don’t have hair and how we could donate it. Her eyes instantly lit up and she was excited about the thought and the next day we hit the salon.
30 minutes later and 12 inches of hair shorter we had freedom.
We chose to send her hair to wigsforkids.org instead of a few of the other more well know and popular donation places because unlike the others, “For over 30 years, Wigs for Kids has been providing Hair Replacement Systems and support for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, Alopecia, Trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues at no cost to children or their families.” Many of the other organizations will only provide hair to children with permanent hair loss such as alopecia and provide wigs on a sliding scale basis, not free!
A month later and we are LOVING the new hair. She has realized how much stress it has taken off of both of us having it short and she adores it. While I’ve had a few comments saying “she’s not the same without the long hair”! I brush those off and move on. My child’s hair doesn’t define her as person, its just a part of her that can be changed on a whim. What is more important is what she has learned from this experience, reducing stressing, a happier life and helping another child in need!
Maria Fuller
I believe in Love at first sight- I met my husband on his 18th birthday and the rest is history
I’m passionate about a women’s right to birth without fear or pressure whether that is at home or in a hospital, I’ve done it in both places.
I have two beautiful girls, Alexa and Arya, 5.5 years apart. I believe each of my daughters was sent to me to remind me of a piece of myself I have lost along the way, it has been exciting journey to rekindle those parts of “ME” again.
We live on a little River in Southbury, CT with our Rotti Beagle mix, a Crazy 1 year old German Shephard and a fat cat that won’t leave the basement, he might be to fat to climb the stairs.
I love a good margarita on the rocks with Salt but ONLY if my husband makes it with hand squeezed lemons, limes and homemade simple syrup, any other margarita sucks.
I listen to “pitbull” in the car with my daughters, they have no idea who Raffi is but Alexa knows most of the words to “Calle Ocho”
I’m the girl who will love you fiercely but is not afraid to “tell you like it is”, if I do, it means I actually care about you!
I love my girls but there are many days I don’t like them or want to be around them. Yep, I just said that, its normal for you to feel that too!
I believe that mothers a given a handbook when their baby is born, its called “intuition” and it will never lead her astray.
I am a photographer who helps women “Celebrate the Courageous journey of motherhood”
Latest posts by Maria Fuller (see all)
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