Blue-Haired Old Ladies Have Nothing On My Kid

Be careful what kind of deals you make with your kids! I lost a bet and now my son has a kelly-green grass strip growing down the middle of his head.

Early last Spring my eight-year old caught on to a local trend and had his head buzz-cut with a “designer motif” carved in the back. He debated between a Kenpo Karate fist and a Yin-Yang, and eventually chose the latter. But having a five inch symbol on the back of his closely cropped skull was not enough -- he wanted to paint one half red and the other half blue. I convinced him that a rainbow on the back of his head would not be satisfying, and hoped that might be the end of things.

But two weeks later, he saw “Kameron” on “So You Think You Can Dance”, and fell in love with the fire-engine red mohawk. (Yikes!) Nate begged for a blue counterpart. I compromised and let him get some electric blue hair gel with the promise that if he still wanted to dye his hair by the end of summer, I would let him. I was sure the novelty would wear off in a week or two.

Today is the day of reckoning. He still loves his bright hair. And it was time for me to make good on the deal. So we trekked out to my girlfriend’s hair salon, he chose his color, and she gave him a permanent electric green landing strip down the middle of his skull. He loves it.

I’m still not sure how I feel about the aesthetics of green hair, but I do feel good about keeping my word and about encouraging a safe form of self-expression. It’s just hair...and hair grows!