Mop Top

Once upon a time, this kid begged us to let him grow his hair longer. He JUST HAD TO HAVE LONG SURFER HAIR FOR SURF CAMP. So, during his kindergarten year, he got his hair cut just before school pictures and we only trimmed it twice leading up to the summer. One "trim" involved a Utahn stylist having no concept, whatsoever, of what "surfer hair" meant and chopping almost half of it off. The other stylist lives and cuts hair in southern California, so he was in good hands. The end result was that it looked like this for camp. It was disheveled, it was kinda moppish. It was so blonde and so fun to run my fingers through. It was SURFER HAIR.

And, when we actually did it, it didn't look half bad.

But the deal was, when surf camp was over, we'd cut it.

And then, almost immediately, he began begging us to let him grow it out again. His mother missed running her fingers through it. His father did not miss it. At all. But the kid pleaded. The parents decided it's just hair. And the journey began again. Only, this time, he didn't start growing it until early November...a full two months after he started last year.

It hasn't been cut though...because we haven't been to California in a couple of months and I don't trust these Utah people with surf hair. You know, given Utah's lack of proximity to any notable coast. The salty shore of the Great Salt Lake does not count.

So it'll be interesting to see what it looks like come summertime.

The grow out phase is a nightmare.

These two pictures were taken roughly one year apart. The hair looks fairly similar. The teeth do not.

I fully anticipate that he'll beg to keep it long after camp. He'll have to demonstrate to us that he is actually a surfer because right now he's all, "SHARKS AND RAYS AND JELLYFISH OH MY!"

I'll tell you one thing. I'm tired of March being the month of disastrous mop hair. The growing out part is just a terrible bummer.