Ah, the life of a mother!  Makes me want to pull out my hair sometimes…

Only this time, my daughter has done it for me.  And it’s her own hair.

While visiting in Ohio for a high school reunion, I received news that my Great Uncle George passed away.  So our plans changed and The Sheldons returned to New Jersey without us gals.  That’s when the trouble began…

It seems continuity and familiarity are a rather big deal to a rather small little girl.  Josephine was all out of sorts and wasn’t comfortable with her surroundings for a longer period of time than expected.  She loves visiting Grammy and Grampy, but she didn’t have HER toys, HER room, HER bed, HER house and it was all too much for her to handle.

The result:  hair pulling.  Large amounts of hair pulling.  One clump here, one clump there.  One day, Josephine had pulled out as many as 5 clumps.  The picture below shows the end result of Josephine’s new do.Great idea for an 80’s party or if you want to be Rhianna for Halloween.  Otherwise, our girl looked like a cancer patient going through chemo.  Very scary to see and hard to take.

Josephine had never had a hair cut and I was so excited about the idea of flowing locks of beauty to brush daily and tie up in cute bows and clips.

Let me tell you…you quickly realize what really matters in life when something like this becomes a concern.  What’s more important?  Pretty hair or the safety and well-being of your child?  You would be surprised to hear my answer.  I was actually struggling with what to do.

I didn’t mind cutting Josephine’s hair, but I didn’t like that I no longer had the choice to do or not to do.  Below is Josephine’s new style.

Cute, yes.  What I wanted for her, no.  But what I want doesn’t matter.  It just doesn’t.  Josephine’s safety and happiness matter.

I can live with that.