The long and short of it

I have always been attached (unreasonably so) to Ira's long hair.  I loved how cute it was curly and long and floppy.  It just seemed like it was part of his personality.

For those who didn't know what Ira looked like as a baby (or 18 month old) here are some pictures for a refresher:

Just LOOK at those curls!

His hair also grows incredibly fast.  Like... he's 5 years old and has had his hair cut around 20 times... fast.  (Thank goodness for my sister who cuts his hair - I'm happy to pay her!)

Alas, we found out that when he goes to school in the fall, the school rule for boys' hair is that it "cannot touch the collar or the ears."  So I knew the day would come when we'd have to cut his precious locks.  And I'd really, really been dreading it.  You see, every time Mandy cut his hair short (which I'd had her do before just so she wouldn't have to cut it so often) I would CRY.  There I admitted it.  Perhaps I am vain or looks-obsessed or something, but it just seemed like Ira wasn't himself with short hair.  He wasn't that adorable, funny, floppy-haired little boy.

So, as you can imagine, Mandy wasn't real excited to do the "big boy" hair cut on Ira.  But he'd already changed in looks with his glasses, and I figured that I'd be a mess enough come the end of summer about him going off to school the last thing I would need then was for him to look like a totally different kid too.

So we decided to have her cut his hair short.  Shorter than she'd ever cut it before.  And let me tell you.  I LOVE it!  I didn't even cry!  It was definitely an adjustment at first (I saw him a couple times at Story Hour and was like "whose kid is that?" before I realized he was mine.)  And everyone that saw him for awhile after he got it cut seriously did. not. recognize. him.  But I love the cut.  I love how easy it is.  And I love how handsome he looks.

And truly, the thing that I think I was really mourning all along was not the loss of his curls or long hair, but just the fact that my baby boy is growing up.  And he's looking like a big kid now - and that's okay.  I'm proud of the boy he is growing into!