The Ups and Downs of True Love

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There is no greater torture to my 4 year old than that of getting her hair brushed.  It’s an unfortunate thing because hair brushing is a necessary ritual and, although contemplated, we made an executive decision as parents to stick it through until she’s at least 6 before resorting to dreadlocks.

In our attempts to mitigate this painful and twice daily activity I have purchased dozens of different brushes as well as numerous “miracle-detangling sprays”.  There is only ONE brush that Miss Mia will allow me to use in her hair and even then it needs to be accompanied by the detangling spray from the GREEN bottle, applied immediately before and a few times during the torment session.


With such strict rules around the hair brushing, Mia has discovered the sneaky method of HIDING said brush so that I can’t find it.  ONE TIME I caved and gave up looking for it, sending her to daycare without her ritualized morning persecution.  ONE TIME.  For a while after that the brush was always “mysteriously” going missing.  I quickly learned my lesson and retaliated with a far inferior “back up brush”.  We don’t lose our brush nearly quite so often now.

Mia also doesn’t like to have anything put in her hair – that includes elastics, clips or hair bands.  She wears her hair movie style -- au natural with the part to the side and one long scraggly piece covering her one eye.  Despite even my mother’s best attempts, this is how the hair gets worn.  Period.


So you can just imagine my surprise this morning when I was awoken at precisely 7:00 am by an excited Mia staring eagerly into my right eye, clutching her brush and a birthday cupcake hair clip. 



“MOMMY! WAKE UP AND DO MY HAIR!!!”  She said in the most enthusiastic and loudest whisper she could muster.

It took me a second to orient myself to this ludicrously impossible scenario.

Without missing a beat, Mia reminded me of the context,

“It’s Jack Jack’s BIRTHDAY today!  I have to wear my special birthday cupcake clip!!!  We’re going to have LUNCH together!!!”

The Birthday Cupcake Hair Clip

As I brushed our her difficult hair she recounted to me the tale of her morning adventure thus far; as soon as her eyes had opened up she remembered that it was Jack Jack’s birthday so she got out of bed, changed her pajamas, took her pull up off all by herself and got her hair brush from the bathroom. Then she went to her playroom and looked around and found her birthday cupcake clip in the kitchen of her Barbie house.  Then she went back to her room to sit on her bed and wait for her clock to say “7” so she could come and wake me up.

“It was a very long time, Mommy…I was SO patient.”

“OH, yes? “ I asked curiously, “And how long DID you have to wait?”

(Mia has the patience of a nit.)

“Well…my clock said 6:04 when I got back to my room and I sat there and waited all the way until it said 7:00.”

HOLY SHIT.

My daughter, in excited anticipation of her best friend's birthday, sat on her bed, staring at her clock, cupcake clip and hair brush in hand for FIFTY SIX MINUTES.  ALL. BY. HERSELF.

The image of that scene made me want to laugh and cry and hug her all at the same time.

She may only be 4 years old, but she is clearly already experiencing the joy and torture that comes with your first true love.  And I have sneaky suspicion this is just the tip of the iceburg…

Mia and Jack Jack - going for a little skate together before his Birthday Lunch