Special Edition: Pink Hair

That's right we dyed our sons hair pink.  It's a buzz cut which is a very short cut if you are new to styling, but it's still a pink one.  It's funny I didn't even really note it as an unusual thing to do but the interest and commentary that this fresh look has garnered has been pretty notable.  Just shy of his 12th birthday began his 6th grade year and with that new and exciting beginning he decided that he wanted to mark the occasion with something that would bring him confidence and great luck.  So he chose pink hair.  And I wish it would last forever.

A word about this particular child.  Read the previous blog called sOCD to learn more about him and OCD but this guy will almost never talk to a person he doesn't know.  We used to go to dinner at a place that will let you exchange your toy for ice cream.  He would bring his younger sibling up to the counter to request the trade on his behalf.  Not that he's super shy, he's plenty of fun, but he is self conscious and catastrophic and tends to see only the worst in himself.  And if you won't talk to a stranger for ice cream, well then, we all know you simply won't talk to a stranger.

Dying his dark hair pink was a chore and it required many steps including bleach. Bleach on a scalp can kind of hurt and it did but he didn't care.  He wanted pink hair.  When we went to the store after the first pink application he walked around talking to all sorts of people about his hair.  When people would ask him about it he had lots to say.  About how he thinks pink is a great color, how it is underused, how he processed his hair and what his future coiffing plans include.  He seemed to be bursting with pride but it was just the first few hours so surely the novelty would wear off.  

Day four of Operation Pink Wig was this, the first day of 6th grade.  I don't know if you remember sixth grade but I know that I do.  It was beyond awkward.  There were all sorts of obvious signs of puberty and basically a lot of tripping over limbs that didn't used to be quite so long.  I personally had a pair of corduroy flare legs with fruits on them - need I mention that they did not go over well.  This guy though, he decided to celebrate being himself (just shy of fruity cords) - bought a pink lunchbox and school supplies to complete the theme and popped out of bed thrilled for school to start.  He moved proudly and confidently through the day, high on the many compliments of his peers and teachers.

And this is a slice of success to start off a year that is a legendary combination of uncomfortable and awful.  This happy, confident, proud person is best of all a person who is happy to stand out, happy to wrap himself in pink and thrilled with his pink top.  And who, I ask, can argue with that?