Ponytails and Bad Boys

My little Allison for some reason is allergic to hair accessories.  After bargaining with her, I can usually get her to wear a barrette or ponytail holder for a few minutes, but within seconds, she takes it out.  She loves to do this in the car, and the backseat has hundreds of little clips and hair-ties all over the place.  This would all be fine, except that her hair is often in her face, which of course drives me crazy.  At dinner, she gets various food sauce like ranch dressing in it, and it gets sticky and matted.  After weekend breakfasts, she reliably smells like maple syrup.

Hair accessories would help her avoid
the dreaded unibrow look. 

I have fought battles with her on her hair accessories, threatening to cut off all her hair so we don't have to worry about it.  I've suggested bangs.  I carry extra ponytail holders in my purse, and we have spares in every room of the house. What I've come to realize is that it's probably not about the hair, really.  I'm told that in a few years, she's going to want to dye a purple streak or something, and I may have to be okay with this.  It's ironic, because I certainly had my share of weird haircuts when I went through my rebellion phase.  Actually, it was just one weird asymmetric cut. With a rat-tail, because those were cool back then. I'm sure my parents hated it.

It's about control, and self-expression, and that glimpse into the future.  Already she's "dumped" two boyfriends, and she is not yet 5.  Her first boyfriend, whom she described as a "bad boy, " lost favor because, as she put it, "He has allergies, so I dumped him."  Her second boyfriend, whom my husband described as a "player" because he wore gel in his spiky hair, was always paying more attention to his friends.  So she lost interest in him too. Smart girl.

Alternatively, we could just put her
in a box until she is of age.

All I can do is set a few ground rules and hope for the best.  I tell her she has to work on her brain first.  That includes, or will include, homework, piano, and worksheets.  Exercise and eating healthy is next. Then she has to work on chores and family stuff.  If the president's daughters have to do their own laundry, then she can learn too.  Although I'll probably wait until she's tall enough to see into the washer. Until then, we'll just hope that the boys remain uninterested in her because of her allergies... to hair accessories.