Yesterday we cut Maisie’s hair for the first time. We’ve been talking about it on and off for a while. There was something lovely about leaving her hair uncut - the last bits of baby-ness were contained in the very fine hairs at the bottom - but it was getting more and more difficult to manage. The very fine hairs become tangled so easily and Maisie was having trouble dealing with her hair in her coat and hat. I was also having trouble brushing it as often as it needed so that when I did it became a sort of ordeal Maisie had to suffer through. Yesterday afternoon she said she wanted to cut off her baby hairs “today or tomorrow”. I suggested we do it in the evening when Rob was home in case Lily got fussy and I needed an extra pair of hands.

And then Maisie said she wanted to do the first cut herself.

I admit my heart quavered a bit at that. But she’s six and capable of all sorts of things so she got to make the first cut. I cut the rest and evened out the edges so the sides sweep up slightly to meet the front and both sides match. I kept a lock. Because I am horribly sentimental about things like that and because my mum has a lock of my hair (or maybe my sister’s) in one of our scrapbooks and I was always fascinated by this part of me (or her) from babyhood.

And now my big girl looks even bigger and more ready to meet the world. When we were done Maisie commented that now her hair would not be uncomfortable in her snow pants or her hat. It should still be long enough to make the requisite bun for dance but is also going to be a lot easier to care for.