My life would be 500% better if my daughter had short hair
It has to be long. That’s the default. Every single first-school girl has long hair. She’s Asian, I have a picture of her when she was little with this perfect bob but no — now it has to be long.
But it can’t, won’t, be brushed. The bathroom gets soaking in winter but I’ll occasionally allow her a long bath just because it keeps her occupied and gives me a breather. But, on the absolute condition that she also washes and combs out her hair?
Deal?
Deal!
And you’ll brush and comb it and let me dry it afterwards?
Yes!
Forty-five minutes later…
Okay — you really must get out now — you washed your hair, right?
No.
See also the brushing and the drying.
And the worst of it. Head lice are a constant at school.
I don’t know if the little one is just one of those kids who can never quite get rid of them or whether a class effort just keeps them circulating.
The NHS advice is a staggering 17-day hair combing routine.
I’ve built Friday evenings around de-nitting. We both put the gunk in — as part of a wider “sleepover” events which mean me on a mattress on her bedroom floor. We spray in the stuff and comb it out — using a sliding scale of brushes and combs right down to that nasty fine tooth de-bugging one.
When school sends out those “Once a week, take a peak” emails — I wonder if they’re just sending them to us.
For almost half my life I’ve shaved my head — just because I don’t really understand the point of hair. In the last year, I was persuaded to start growing it again. Still — it’s short enough to not need anything beyond shampoo.
I’m a dad. An entirely lone parent and it’s not that I can’t grasp the importance of nice hair to a young girl — I just can’t make it happen.
In my daughter’s case — I don’t begrudge the concept or time. It’s the hours of procrastination, steamed-up bathrooms, rows and tantrums that achieve nothing but leave me stressed and feeling hopeless.
Honestly, all I wish for in 2023 are female role models with short hair
