When Kale was first born (in our bathroom, on our old pink futon that was hastily tossed in there right before I flung myself off the toilet in mid-contraction) we thought we would treat ourselves to savouring his new born status as a non-gendered little being for about a half an hour. I remember when we finally released him from my tight hold, Craig was finally checking things out under the hood and I heard him say "you have a pee pee!". A boy! Oh, boy.
This might sound strange but for some reason my first thought upon hearing this was: What if he get's into hockey? And then my second thought: What am I going to do with his hair? And this is when there was a deep subconcious desire started whispering into my heart's ears; the boy will have a Christopher Robin (or Louise Brooks; whichever way you want to roll).
With Edie it was easy. I simply did to her hair what my mom did to mine when I was her age (though I spared her the super tight pigtails that could have triggered migraines in a weaker scalped child). I cut her baby bangs so she can see and keep it long everywhere elso so we can braid it up or ponytail it down.
With Kale I still wished for him unobscured vision though I loved the little wild child vibe that is pretty prevalent in these parts (either commune living all one length to the waist or Lord of the Flies, neo-Pixie, choppy with many leftover strands straggleing - so cute!) but I was smitten by the idea of a Christopher Robin so I pretty much gave him the Edie special with a cute wedge jutting out the back.
We have been reading Winnie the Pooh on the couch all winter long and I love the dreamy, nostalgic quality of the the boy's deep, deep play with his toys and his whole look kind of captures that whimsy. The vibe seems perfect for my mini-Sensitive New Age Guy.
So here's a little how to if you desire a little Pooh flavour in your home. Grab a roll of masking tape and begin the process by taking a piece about four inches long, stick on top of your head in front of your child and then rip it on and off several times while joyfully giggleling and saying "that tickles!". Do that a few times and be convincing because in all truthfullness it does smart a tinch but the tape is an essential component of this technique.
Then take a five inch piece of tape and tape to your child's forehead trying to capture all the hair that is combed down, wet, over the eyes. I aimed for temple to temple. Don't be afraid to cut them too short. Children's hair grows like weed not to mention their forheads are much shorther than adult's so there's less distance for it travel to cover any whoopsie daisies.
Cut along tape line. Gently remove tape.
This is the fun part. Take a long piece of tape and mark now from earlobe to earlobe from the back of the head. You want to aim for the bottom of the "brain case" to really emphasize that bulbous effect. Cut, remove tape and fluff up the whole hair do for optimum cute factor.
After whatever natural hair products you want to play with (I like to throw on a dab of coconut oil to give him that whiff of edibleness but it does attract flies in the summer) kick back and admire your self-sufficiency as your little Dutch Boy goes deep into his work of play with the perfect playtime hair do!
