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The Spring Haircut

My children were both long over-due for haircuts. And Spring felt like the time for it.

It’s an errand that I had kept moving down on the list until this week. I had an hour’s space between after school and when we would have dinner that I thought I’d use this time to strike this task off the list once and for all. So, I piled both kids into the car.

Stella, my seven-year-old, was not pleased. To her, getting her haircut is about as thrilling as shopping. She’d much rather be playing with her friends (and who could blame her really?). But, also. She likes her long hair. I think she worries that when the hairdresser says they will just “take a little off,” that they’ll actually hack a foot off the end. And Max? Well, at 21-months, he had no clue where we were going. Which was good, since he doesn’t like the process of getting his hair cut either.

Are you starting to see why maybe this errand had gotten pushed to the bottom of the list so many times? Anyhow. It was happening whether they liked it or not. As I was getting my seat belt on, I asked Stella if she might like a change … a shoulder-length do, bangs, a bob? She surprised me with, “I’d like to donate my hair to cancer.”

I wasn’t surprised that she knew you could donate hair to help make wigs for those who’ve lost their hair during cancer treatments. We have two friends of the family who both did this over the years and I know Stella (rightly) looks up to these girls. But I never thought I hear her say she’d want to do the same. Anytime the topic had come up with our friends, she would just look at them quietly. The look in her eyes said, “Yes, that was good for you to do that. But, no way, no how, will I be cutting all my hair off! So everyone, please stop talking about it before someone suggests that I should do it.”

My hand on my seatbelt stopped mid-motion. “Really? Are you sure?” I asked. Yes, she replied. (I only need to ask once with Stella, since unlike her parents she is very decisive.)

Long story short then — she did it! We are really proud of her.

Before

After

If you or your child is interested, here’s how:

1. Go to the Canadian Cancer Society website for a list of Canadian organizations that accept hair donations:

2. Gather the hair at the nape of the neck or at a point where the hair will be cut and secure with an elastic band. Cut the hair straight across the ponytail, just above the elastic band, keeping the hair together in the elastic band.

Cut straight across, above the elastic.

3. Then place the ponytail or braid into a zip lock bag and mail in to the organization you’ve selected.

Then pop into a hairdresser to get it trimmed and shaped into a new hair style.Voila! A new spring look! Edited on July 12th, 2012: You can follow-up on this story to see Stella’s 2nd hair donation by clicking here.

Edited on June 22nd, 2013: Hooray to another generous young woman, Finola’s daughter Niamh!

Comments

  1. I said it before, but you ought to be a very proud Mama! And congratulations to Stella for being such a great kid :)

  2. Good on her for doing that! (And that bob looks very stylish indeed.) When pointed out to The Boy that I liked it when his hair was a bit longer because it gets these fabulous curls (wonder where he gets that from), he frowned and said he couldn’t wait to get it shorter to get rid of them.

  3. Stella is a truly incredible and unique little girl. While I am sure my opinion means nothing to her, I am very proud of her too.

  4. Wow! What a selfless act. Stella must have some wonderful role models, her mother best among them!

  5. That is awesome. Good for her!

  6. what a wonderful girl stella is! and i know she loved her long hair, so what a great way to cut it off.

  7. now, I am really glad I got those great shots of her great braids!

    And, she did a great thing…. what a great girl!

    Sarah

  8. Kathryn says:

    I passed beautiful Stella in the village today and saw that she had lopped off her hair, was so proud of her as I knew instantly why it was gone. It will, as a bonus, be lovely and cool for the summer.
    K

  9. Wow, that is really incredible. What a remarkable little lady you have, you must be so proud. And her new hair-do looks super cute too.

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Trackbacks

  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michelle Schurman. Michelle Schurman said: This little girl did a wonderful thing for a cancer patient. The Spring Haircut: http://bit.ly/bRFLU7 via @addthis […]

  2. […] to Stella for inspiring Niamh to grow her hair. It was a great […]

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