Pretty Boy
My boys have long hair. Other kids mistake them for girls and adults call them “pretty”. Last month, the guy who cuts the scrubby grass of our house in Maine with his riding mower gave Griffin two dollars for helping him.
“Give it to your dad,” said this very burly, very manly, very short-haired Mainer, “and tell him to buy you a haircut.”
Pretty Boy 2
Our friends call Adrian “Mogli” after the kid from “The Jungle Book” who was raised by wolves. And with his gorgeous jungle tan, flat, Fred-Flintstone feet, and brown, sun-streaked hair, he does resemble a little Tarzan; when this wild child climbs out of Beaver Lake after doing a perfect front flip in, his wet hair reaches half way down his back.
Wild Child
I admit I am unnaturally attached to their long hair. It evokes the crushes of my childhood, like The Partridge Family’s David Cassidy, although Ethan says the boys look more like Carole Brady. But it seems to me that Griff could single-handedly bring back the 70s dreamboat look I loved and had pasted onto all my lunch boxes. A girl can dream, can’t she?
Long Haired 70s Hunk
If only their daddy didn’t have such a difference of opinion. Ethan yearns for crew cuts they way I dream of pig and ponytails. But I refuse to give in, reminding him that back in the day (when he still had lots of hair) he sported long, gorgeous curls.
“Yeah, but I was nineteen, not six!” he says in his own defense.
Short Haired Daddy
The boys say they don’t want their hair cut anyway, and this makes me feel pretty smug, even though I know it’s probably not the best parental decision to leave personal grooming choices up to four and six-year olds. After all, it could backfire and I might have to send them off to college looking like The Barbarian Brothers…
Oh, Please No!
Baby Barbarians??
love it! it’s so neat they have a personal preference for their hair. they’d look cute either way.
At first I thought maybe you were trying to be thrifty and get donated clothes and not cut their hair because you had lost your high paying network job. Then I came to your house and saw their designer duds and realized it was you just being your normal insane self. I dont agree with letting children make any decisions about how they want to look (mine would look like the street man you featured in an earlier blog….not that there is anything wrong with that) and I never make eye contact with them because they always ask for candy.
All that being said I still love the baby barbarians and you!
hahahaha–you know i am always trying to be thrifty, but I can still afford a haircut. i just don’t wanna!!!!!!!!
Susie, My son Richard has the most beautiful thick honey blond hair that is almost to this waist. Makes all of us so jealous and he still says hes not cutting it (he’s 25). Susie N.
Oh, what I would give to see it–or to have it! Good for him!
Suzanne
Suz, what a delightful “story”. And as usual the way you put story and pictures together—amazing.
It made my day happy. Tante Heide
A great post !
robert
Awesome Suzi. Thank you. Cool lil Dudes…..
They are gorgeous! Men and boys always have more beautiful hair than women! Kinda like ducks!
Haha–great analogy. Wish I’d thought of it!
Suzanne
I always allow my kids to wear their hair whatever way they choose. It’s only hair and it’s a form of expression. We make so many other decisions for them that it’s good to empower them in some ways. When they start asking for tattoos (which I have experienced), I put my foot down.
Love that this is the subject of your blog by the way. It’s a good contrast from all of the heaviness that you’ve been experiencing.
XO
The boys have beautiful hair and look cute. Your story reminds of a boy that went to elementry school with my youngest and had long blond hair. The school kids named him “rat tail.” Unfortunately, that became his name throughout elementry and middle school and all of Little League, even after he cut it. His mother was not too happy with the nickname.
We too let our boys wear their hair as they liked, they had platinum blond spikes, they had faux hawks, and even the David Cassidy look. No nicknames though, I think because the hairstyles changed.
Glad your feeling better and looking at the lighter side of life. XO
Hi Suzanne, I am also very happy to be thinking about airy things like hair styles for handsome boys! I’d forgotten how easy on the eyes David Cassidy was. He had that dreamy look of Ricky Nelson and the edgy manliness of Clint Eastwood all rolled into one! . When my boys were about 7 & 9, we found an old fashioned barber shop where the proprietor was a gentleman and looked like velvet elvis with girly pictures on the wall up high. They treated me and my gaggle of three little kids with respect. Later on, we also mixed up super amoniated concoctions of hair bleach and put it on dark haired teenage boys’ heads. In a week or so, it was tips and looked oh so stylish. I am so happy your mom is up and around!
Love, Judy and Jo
Your boys are gorgeous. I love their long hair!
Maybe it was because I never had that girl my heart ached for but for whatever reason… I was probably too invested in my boys hair.
Coming out of the 60s/70s, I loved my babies’ hair long. There were those times when they were referred to as girls, called pretty etc. My oldest was sensitive to being mistaken for a girl. So I felt I had to agree to a “trim” when he asked for a hair cut at age 5. His younger brother, Jake, had a head full of brown curls and big round dark chocolate eyes. He was happy to never go to the barber. However, when he approached the age of 7, Jake requested his hair be cut into a Mohawk. A Mowhaw! I was heart broken at the thought of those beautiful curls being shaved off. I kept saying no, he kept asking — making it clear that it was HIS hair we were discussing. I finally agreed that he could get a Mohawk if he wanted to spend his own money. He never brought it up again. Although he did have his hair trimmed. In high school Jake began letting his hair grow very long. He was a 3 season athlete and played football, lacrosse and wrestled. His long thick curls bounced six inches out from under his helmet. Sitting on the bleachers my husband and I would always hear other parents remark when they discovered what they thought was a girl on the team. Apparently, my husband was sensitive to his son being mistaken for a girl and began advocating for Jake to cut his hair. I encouraged Jake to keep it long. Eventually, I took out a photo of my husband when we were first married where he was sporting long thick wavy hair and gave it to Jake to use as ammunition the next time the issue arose. In his senior year, Jake told the football team he would let them shave his head on the school’s morning TV show if they made it to the superbowl. This was a deal I knew nothing about until the day he came home with a blad head! He has been shaving his head ever since. So, I find it interesting where my three sons ended up with their hair. My oldest, Chris, a high school teacher, dons a metrosexual hairstyle, my second, Jake, a musician, has a clean round shaven LA golden dome and the youngest, Nico, also a musician, has very long thick wavy hair. Longer than mine at this time. Of course as their mom, I will say they are all handsome in their right. But how I love to take out those old photos and look at my babies with that sweet silky hair.
If I had to do it all over again. I would have let Jake have his Mohawk.
hee hee–i’m going to have a cow when Adrian asks for a mohawk! but if that’s what he wants… (i’ll stop short of saying yes in writing!). so nice to hear the love you have for your boys. i’m already sad that mine are growing up and they are only 4 and 7. It goes by so fast. Stay in touch.
Suzanne
So cute!