The Big One

4 years, 10 months, 25 days.

The BIG DAY finally arrived. I anticipated and dreaded it at the same time. What if it all went horribly wrong? Would I break out in tears or break out in a sweat? After this day, things would never be quite the same again. Was I ready? Was she ready?

The BIG DAY was the day of Lily's first hair cut. You heard me right, the very first hair cut.

Yes, I probably thought about this day for as long and as much as I thought about my 30th birthday. Which I started thinking about when I was, oh, about 28 years old. And yes, I've probably spent a good two years or more thinking about Lily's first hair cut as well.

I'd finger her hair, letting my hands trail through her curly-Qs and think "I'm NEVER going to cut it." I'd remember that awful pixie cut I got when I was five years old (sorry Mom) and think, "I'm never going to cut it." I'd hear strangers in the grocery store tell me how beautiful she was and think, "I'm never going to cut it."

But then there were the days where she'd trot off to school looking like some wild creature from the forest because she wouldn't let me put anything in her hair to hold it back and I'd think, "I really ought to cut it." And I'd look at the stack of 21 different combs in her bathroom drawer - each an attempt to find one that could actually make its way through her snarled tangles - and I'd think, "I really ought to cut it."

I even went so far as to purchase the matching "My First Curl" and "My First Tooth" engraved keepsake boxes eons ago, but then they sat gathering dust in the front closet shelf.

And when it was all over, it was - well, it was really quite like any other day. (I can't say the same about my 30th birthday since that marked the date of my arrival in Austin, Texas!) Lily was incredibly well-behaved and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the entire process. I survived as well. So I got all worked up for nothing and I probably gave myself even more gray hairs for my trusted hairstylist to cover up. (Vicki - shhhhhh!)

And even though Lily probably gave up two inches of her hair, considering her hair is - scratch that - WAS 18 inches long, you can't even really tell by looking at it.

So now that that's over, I guess I can go on to fretting about other things.

Like when she'll be old enough to get that little patch of hair between her eyebrows waxed.