YES, My Son Has Long Hair. NO, Your Input Isn't Needed or Wanted.

Namaste!


As back to school season charges forth, I'm meeting the wave and getting into the swing of it all by attending activities and enrichment programs with my kiddos. We homeschool, but we still get out quite a bit for socialization. (For those who always mention that particular bullet point to homeschoolers--knock it off, because those of us with well-rounded curricula do actually socialize our kids. Plus, they don't do that lab rat state testing the public school kids lose their marbles over each year. NYAH! *raspberries*)


Maturity lapse aside...


We hang out at least two days a week. We do our lessons in the morning. Or afternoon on storytime day, which is each Tuesday.


So I dress the kiddos, load up the truck, and off we go. For the most part, our interactions with people are pleasant. We smile and chat, or run around the park.


"She is such a spry little thing!"


*needle scratch*


Because my tween is about as far from spry as a person can be without being actually comatose, and Tiger Lily is too small to be considered spry or even mobile, I know immediately it's happened again. *face palm*


You've overlooked the athletic gear, in masculine colors. You've completely ignored the shirt that reads, BEST BROTHER EVER.


Yep, You zeroed in on his ponytail.


My son has a beautiful floof of curly hair. Because he won't be getting it cut until HE decides it's time, I keep it pulled back most of the time. When he's running around playing and being a toddler, I usually just wrap it in a ponytail or tuck it in a man bun so it doesn't get into his eyes. While that hair flip he does is absolutely to die for, I figure he probably wants to play unfettered, unbothered by his wayward curls.


He isn't wearing bows or embellishments of any kind. His hair band is black. There aren't any intricate parts or style techniques that would suggest he's anything but a boy with a ponytail instead of a Cesar.


I get aggravated by people who assume little boys with hair are effeminate. If a woman has short hair, the average human won't run around saying that woman "wants to be a boy" or "looks like a guy." Nope.


It's problematic to me because it's usually either men who aren't exactly shining examples of masculinity themselves OR women with hair envy.


His hair is long because he actually likes it. His hair is long because I like it. His hair is long because not only am I not willing to force a haircut onto a toddler, but because I'm also willing to maintain it.          


I'm not willing to hear anyone's misinformed conjectures about it though.


Save that and massage it into your scalp--then you too, can have luxurious curls. *chuckle*