Today's Column--Holding Onto the Baby Curls

By Lara Bricker
March 21, 2008 6:00 AM
Admit it, we all love it when out in public someone stops to admire our little toddler, you know how cute they are?
Lately though, it's gone something like this:
Isn't she a beautiful little girl, random person on the street, in the store, at the post office remarks.
I know, I know, Willie's hair is long. But he has the most beautiful curls. I can't stand the thought of cutting them. And so I haven't. I think he looks like a boy, albeit a surfer dude, free spirit, hippie like boy. It fits his personality. But, it's amazing that just the presence of long hair can cause the random person to think he's a girl. And yet the blue, tan, truck or train covered clothing he's wearing with this long hair means nothing?
Come on, my hubby told me when I brought this up, kids dress in everything these days. Girls wear blue too.
And boys have long hair, I responded.
Just take a look at a smattering of celebrity children, who have been in the news for their curls and long flowing hair. Cindy Crawford's son Presley reportedly likes his long hair. In surfing the Net I found a whole blog (www.celebrity-babies.com) where people were discussing Presley's long blond locks. A blog comment from "Posh Fan" takes offense with those who think Presley, who is 7½, should cut his hair. Posh Fan rambles on about how Presley "makes it work" with the long hair because it "seems to go perfectly with his features."
This boy hair blogging authority does not think that Kate Hudson's son Ryder's long locks have the same appeal. Kate recently told Ellen Degeneres that her son also likes his long locks "He won't let me cut it. I said "We're gonna have to cut your hair.. And he goes "yeah mom, I want a mohawk." Which brings up yet another celebrity child hair style, Angelina Jolie's son Maddox who does have a mohawk. And then there's Celine Dion's son Rene Charles, whose hair actually disturbed me a little bit it was so long and flowing (kind of like his mother's..). But Celine won't cut Rene's hair either. She says he'll make the call about when to cut his locks of love.
And so I return to thinking about Willie's hair. Unlike the celebrity line-up, it's not because he doesn't want his hair cut that I leave it long. It's because in addition to being so adorable, it means that he's not a little baby anymore. Lest you think I'm becoming one of those mothers who's going to turn their little son into a bona fide mommy's boy — I'm not. But I just can't bring myself to cut the hair. When people tell me to cut the hair, it becomes even worse. One woman was quite judgmental as she shook her head at me and essentially ordered me to cut his hair.
Just a little bit longer, I say.
As all of his baby boy peers have haircuts that look like they cost $40 apiece and should be on the cover of a baby magazine, I want to hold on to the innocence of that first hair growing in. Those first curls forming. The way those curls really show off after he has a bath. I mean why are we all in such a rush to make our little ones grow up so fast? Once we cut his hair, I feel like he'll be marching around biding his time until he goes off to preschool and kindergarten. I know, I know babies grow up. They become little boys, older boys, and soon pre-teen boys who are playing spin the bottle at some kid's birthday party. It all happens so fast.
So what's wrong with holding onto the little boy innocence, those delicate curls just a little bit longer? For me, nothing at all. Maybe he'll even get his own hair blog some day.