The Alliance

Stopped they must be; on this all depends.  Only a fully-trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor.

Yoda

There are a few things Emma and I have regular arguments about.  It's just part of the fun around here.  One of them is her hair.

Her point of view:  leave me alone.

My point of view:  I have twin desires and they are to leave Emma alone in matters of lesser importance (like her appearance--I have more interesting ways to spend my time) and to not have her look dreary with tired looking, limp hair.

I offer my (admittedly untalented) services to her for her hair.  Ponytail?  Barrette?  Half ponytail?

No. No. And no.

So I told Emma maybe she could consider a haircut.

No. No. And no.

My like-minded friend Jill is the mother of Emma's like-minded friend Hannah.

There is no end to the advantages this poses to us as mothers.  We love to talk about our daughters.  And scheme.

Emma was talking to Hannah about hair in Jill's earshot.  (It was at school where Jill was volunteering in their classroom.)  Jill, my ally, cleverly offered to Emma that she'd talk to me about the Aveda Institute where she'd taken Hannah for a haircut.  Suddenly Emma was in a conspiracy against me (or so she thought) and she was thrilled at the idea of a haircut.

Suddenly it was her idea.

She came home and asked me if I'd talked to Hannah's mom yet about getting a haircut.  Then she started hounding me to make her an appointment.  I hesitated just enough as to not seem too eager.

Saturday we went to the Aveda Institute in Seattle.

Emma was enthralled with it.  It was a big room, abuzz with activity.  There was pulsing music and every student hairdresser was wearing black.  Emma pointed out that this was SO much better than Great Clips where I usually take her.  A lot of the students also looked like they'd suffered industrial accidents with their hair and piercings.  Yikes.  Do they let the beginning students practice on them?  As in on their first day?  There were a lot of partially shorn/partially long hairstyles and a rainbow of colors.

Emma got a haircut she loved.  Mostly, I think, because it was "her" idea.


Before:

After:

I owe Jill.