Flipping

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . hugging my little family.


And another thing . . .

. . . my kids both got haircuts today. Daniel looks like Daniel-with-shorter-hair. Joy looks like a totally different person. That's partly because her hair was cut a bit shorter than I expected, but also because my friend styled it very differently from what I am used to.

I usually just brush Joy's hair, put a clippie or two in it, then leave it to its own devices. My friend brushed, blow-dried, and curled it into a cute little flip. It made Joy's hair seem more like an intentional style, and therefore a statement about what she (or the person grooming her) likes and values.

If boy haircuts make any statement at all it tends to be something like "I am a boy." Girl styles can say anything from "I'm practical" to "I'm sporty" to "I'm high maintenance; ask me out if you think you're up to the challenge." While I'm sure that my no-frills approach to Joy's hair made some statement about me (and possibly about her), I wasn't so conscious of hair's impact on people's perceptions until I saw Joy's new do and thought, "Who is this child, and what does she stand for?"

Maybe the effect will wear off as I get used to Joy's new haircut (and as the flip relaxes--goodness knows I couldn't replicate it even if I wanted to). In the meantime, the whole thing is a little surreal. It also makes me wonder how others' perceptions of me would change if I did something so trivial as change my hairstyle.