The next time you see Caitlin...

She's going to look a little different.

Ready?

Let the photographic journey begin!

To there.

Like this.

Ready?

Snip!

Wow!

There it goes, in all its glory: Caitlin's ponytail.

It was all her idea.

Proud papa.

Little bits of hair.

A little layering.

So sweet!

Yes. That's where all 10-12 inches of it are going. Just like me a year ago.*

So excited. "The new me!"

The finished product, with a style.

"What?! How? Who?!" I can hear you sputtering.

It's OK, really. Caitlin has been asking for a haircut for the last few weeks. She had been complaining about how hard it is to brush her hair every morning! I told her that since it was her hair, she needed to take care of it and that meant brushing it every day. I also told her that if she wanted to cut it, we could do that but that the decision wasn't up to me since it's not my hair. She decided she wanted it cut.

Also, the fact that all of her girlfriends have short hair may have added to it. Last year she was all excited about being the only girl in class with long hair. This year, she decided she'd like it short. Since it's just hair and will grow back, I had no problem agreeing with her. Eric actually had a harder time coming to grips with the idea, especially once I threw in the possibility of cutting enough of her hair to donate to Locks of Love. They want 10-12 inches of hair, so that's a pretty significant amount and a pretty sudden change. I talked to Caitlin about it and whether she wanted to do what I had done last year (and what one of her best friends is planning on doing, following my example, once her hair grows long enough) and give her hair away to someone that needed it.

I left it entirely up to her: cut it quite short and give it away or just trim it up to a medium length and go from there.

Clearly she chose the super short route and the gift of hair.

I'm very proud of her!

* Here's my story, in the time before The Blog. Two blog posts in one!

From 5/24/06.

The next time you see me... (Yes, I've used the same title every time there's a big hair change around here.)

I'm gonna look a little different.

No, it's not the sunburn.
Chop!

Ahhhhhh! The missing 10 inches are going to Locks of Love who make wigs for children under the age of 18 with medical hair loss. My hairdresser thinks they can get THREE wigs from MY hair. Didn't I tell you I had enough hair for a family of four? OK, apparently I over-estimated. A family of THREE!

Caitlin got a trim. Just a tiny one. And a fancy braid.
And she cried a LOT when she saw my braid in my hands. Poor bunny! She felt better after she got to play with the 7 week old kittens. My words weren't helping. The power of kitties is astonishing!

Ciao!

She of Less Locks!