Short hair

Lillianna hates when her hair gets too long because she hates the snarls and she is not too happy when I put her hair up in a ponytail either. She will use any excuse to keep it down. Lately she has been asking to get her hair cut. Today,I finally agreed.

"How short do you want it?" the hairdresser asked.
Lillianna pointed to her shoulders.I tried not to scream.

"Uhm....I still want to put it up in a ponytail from time to time," I chimed in.

"Ok,I'll leave the front a little longer and angle it so that it can still go up," the hairdresser replied.

I bit my lip,swallowed hard and sat quietly in my hair. I sighed and clutched my chest as big clumps of hair fell to the floor. My baby! All that beautiful hair.
I looked at Lillianna. She was one big smile. Her smile got bigger as more and more hair was chopped off. She was loving this.

When the hairdresser was finished,I looked at Lillianna. She was thrilled. She did look adorable but she looked older. She'll be 8 in two weeks and she didn't look it. She just looked.....Older. She hugged me and thanked me a million times. It was worth it.

I try to listen to what she wants to wear and how she wants her hair to look. She still has days of,"Whatever," which means I pick out her clothes but I want her to be comfortable making her own decisions. More than that,she has to know that I have faith in her decisions. It's difficult and it's a learning process,for both of us.

What decisions do you let your children make on their own?