My sweet-hearted little girl

Tessa is my older daughter. She is 8 going on 80. She has the biggest heart and sweetest soul. And up until last Saturday had the longest hair on any 8 year old that I knew.

I had been trying to get her to cut her hair for awhile. It snarled incredibly. Every morning involved tears as I brushed and braided her hair.

Two weeks, I told her the story of a little boy from Cranston who had Alopecia. He is 8 years old, same age as Tessa, and he lost all his hair including eyebrows and eyelashes. I told her about Locks of Love donation. She thought about it for a bit and asked how much she needed to donate. So I searched online and found about they wanted 10 inches.

So this past Wednesday, after her shower, I brushed her hair and then put it in an elastic at 10 inches to show her. Tessa burst into tears and said it was too short. That she could not lose that much hair. I told her that there was no reason to cry as I was not cutting it. That her hair was still there.

She mulled it over. Told my assistant leader on Thursday night that she was going to be a good Girl Scout and donate her hair……Kept talking about it Friday morning. Saturday, she asked her daddy if she would look like a boy if her hair was short. Craig told her absolutely not!

So Saturday morning, we stopped at Snipits on our way to the market. She went in and hopped up on the chair.

The hairdresser said that they would need close to 11 inches as they did not count the first inch. She put Tessa’s hair into the ponytail and then we both asked if she was okay with it.

She nodded and said she wanted to give her hair to boys and girls who needed it.

The hairdresser cut.

The only tears were mine. I did get choked up to see all my baby’s hair get cut off.

But she had a radiant smile. She tossed her new hair back and forth. She was so excited that she wiggled all through her trim.

And she looks so grown up!!! She no longer looks like such a little girl.

She spent all day Saturday checking herself out in the mirror and flipping her hair over her shoulders.  She loves her new cut.  And I just love her heart and soul.......