Ah, welcome to the world of tradeoffs. Jackson has Asberger's syndrome, and has sensitivity issues. Katie and I learned long ago to pick our battles. At some point in the past - I'm not even sure when it happened, we stopped fighting the hair battle. We said, "If you keep it washed, combed and out of your eyes, you can have it whatever length you want. And if it's ever a safety issue in sports, it either goes in a pony tail or we cut it." And since then it's never been an issue.
It's been well more than a year since his last trim - I think we took off about 1-2 inches - and over 2 years that he's been able to sport a pony tail. Alas, it is finally "normal". Check it out.
How? Why? Don't really know for sure. Out of nowhere earlier this week Jackson said, "I think I should get a haircut." I checked again with him on Thursday and he was still ready for a haircut. He did mention that he was sick of kids staring at him. That sounded especially troubling to him. He also mentioned that he would no longer be mistaken for a girl. Anyway, when I got home from work last night I asked again, and when he agreed, I suggested we get it done tonight. We went to Perkins for dinner as a family, then went straight to the haircut place.
For the record, the pony tail was about 9 inches long, which qualifies for a Locks of Love donation. He's happy to be giving hair to a kid with cancer. So that's just another reaffirmation for me.
I have great kids.
3 comments:
Perfect! The hair battle could have gone any number of bad ways, but it didn't. Fruthermore, it didn't merely end up a non-issue, some struggling caner survivor is gettig some pretty sweet locks.
That is parenting at its finest.
Do you think that Jackson has moved on to his next battle and you guys aren't aware of it yet??? Hee heeee, ho hooooo!
Re: queen of slack
There are battles every day. Yesterday, for example, it was fractions and homework. When he finished his homework, I asked to check it. He was disappointed to learn that he had gotten every single fraction problem wrong. We spent an extra 30 minutes on it last night, because I want to stress the importance of doing a great job on all of his homework, not just the pieces he wants to do.
I'm hoping this instills some level of quality and workmanship into his character. It's a theme I (and my wife) work very hard to be consistent about. Do your best, and if you don't understand, ask for help. There is no shame in asking for help.
This is why the hair thing is really no big deal in comparison.
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