Cadence's Big Chop

Cadence had been growing out her hair for about 2 years.  When it started to get really long, we decided she was going to keep letting it grow so that she could donate her hair.  She would get it trimmed here and there, but the trips to the salon were few and far between.  Her hair was something she was becoming really proud of.  She would also go through phases where she'd get really attached to the way she was wearing her hair and she'd wear it that way for a couple of weeks straight.  She went through a phase where she would wear it half up with a few "bang" pieces down to outline her face; she went through another phase where I would French braid it every night after her shower so she would wake up with super wavy hair.  As someone who recently had to teach herself how to French braid by watching YouTube videos, I was happy when that phase ended.  A lot of the time she did nothing at all with her hair.  Originally, she wanted to do the "big chop" during Christmas break.  She wanted to surprise her friends with her new 'do.  When Danny tested positive for COVID, we had to postpone her big haircut and the next availability we had was January 30th.  The way we looked at it, she would have another half of an inch of hair to donate by then. The weak leading up to the big day, she was beginning to get cold feet.  I told her what she was doing was so generous; hair will grow back; it will be a nice change.  The morning of, she was still a little nervous, but she was also excited.  I did some research on organizations that took hair donations and we decided on Children with Hair Loss.  In doing the research, we learned that recipients of wigs through Children with Hair Loss are kids and young adults under 21 who have lost their hair due to medical reasons; the minimum donation length was 8 inches; and recipients don't have to pay for their wigs.  We were excited when we realized Cadence had well over 10 inches to donate.  She could still keep her hair at shoulder length and she could still donate a lot of her hair.  When we got to the salon, we talked about her hair length and then Erin (my hairdresser for the last 20ish years) braided her hair into two braids.  She had Cadence stand up and she chopped away!  Cadence's face showed a little bit of shock when she heard the sound of her hair being cut off by the scissors.  She was so surprised to hold her braids after they were no longer attached to her head!  We made sure the hair was secure with rubber bands and I put them in a Ziploc bag and filled out a form to be mailed out.  We're so proud of Cadence for sticking with the goal and giving her hair to those who are in need.  She's still getting used to having shorter locks, but I think she likes that her hair is easier to take care of these days!

Before

After!

She had a basketball game after her hair appointment, so after she showered that night, I helped her dry and style her hair.  She was playing with Snapchat that night and took this picture.  I was being goofy, but had to share because her hair looks so cute!