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Recent photo of my 6-year-old son's hair, in a half-tail.
--Val
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He has some good length. It will reach his knees soon.
Scott
Thanks, Scott. Being a VERY active little boy, I think the complications that knee-length hair would bring might persuade him to finally get it trimmed.
--Val
Nothing else to say other than what has been said. What a picture.
It's so great to see parents who allow their children to do as they wish with their own hair on their own head! When I was a kid, I had to fight, cry, and beg for every half-inch of tiny bit of hair length -- and even then, I lost; but thank goodness that was a long-ago personal history...
A son has just as much right to grow their hair long as a daughter. Thanks to wise parents like you and your wife, the world has slowly changed from my unhappy childhood experience, one progressive-thinking family at a time!
- Ken
Thank you, Ken. It always saddens me to hear of the emotional trauma some parents have inflicted upon their own children--even if well-intentioned--in the name of suppressing authentic self-expression. I cannot imagine forcing my sons to cut their hair against their will.
--Val
Hey Val,
Wow, your son has fantastic hair and at such an awesome length!Ken summed it up well in his response about progressive thinking parents who let their kids make certain decisions for themselves.I never had longhair as a young child as the longhair bug didn't bite me until my early 20s :)By that time I was an adult but I do kind of wonder what my parents would have said if I grew my hair out when I was still an adolescent. Main thing is once I grew my hair it remained long ever since ;) Cheers my friend.
Mârk
Thanks, Mârk! Like I said in my response to Ken, I can't imagine forcing my boys to conform to a standard that is contrary to who they truly are.
Cheers,
Val
Hi Val,
You must be commended for being supportive of your son's decision to grow his hair! I am truly inspired by his hair! The color and length is just awesome! Is he just going to keep it growing? Or does he have a goal length?
Ted
Thank you, Ted. Indeed, I am grateful to my son for inspiring me to once again grow my own hair long. He's never mentioned a goal length, though he did mention a dream he had a couple of nights ago, in which his hair reached to the floor. Time will tell!
Cheers,
Val
Has his hair ever been cut, Val?
It is beautiful and as the other guys have said - Good for you and his mom for being supportive and open to it.
I remember both of my boys having their baby hair cut - 2nd son in particular went longer than the first - interestingly, now his hair is long, too - much longer than mine - and he has been the inspiration for me to finally grow it out - of course, he is not 6 anymore - 25 now... but, your son is inspiring and encouraging you, too, now. I'm very happy about this.
Best Wishes to your family,
Fitz
Thank you for the kind words, Fitz. He did have a slight trim once, taking off maybe an inch or so, about 4 years ago. If I remember correctly, it was because he had gotten hold of a pair of scissors as a toddler and cut out a "chunk" of hair in one spot, and his mother wanted to slightly even out that area.
Best wishes to you and yours, as well :)
--Val
That is so COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Somebody give this man the FATHER OF THE YEAR AWARD already! WOW!
Val, my good friend, that is a mane to be jealous and proud of at the same time! I wish I could say I have EVER seen a 6 year old boy with such hair, and I work with 5-6 years old as a living!
That's like Ken's great hair (just a tad more blonde, and thick, hehe) on a first grader, and it looks FANTASTIC!
How do his teachers/friends treat him with his unusual hair length, I wonder?
Haha... thank you, my friend, though I hardly think I qualify for quite such high accolades!
I do appreciate your high opinion of my son's hair, especially considering your professional expertise regarding his particular age demographic :) To be certain, as his hair has grown longer and more resplendent, I have found myself increasingly inspired to regrow my own. I really enjoy helping to care for all of my children's hair (brushing, braiding, etc.), and look forward to the day that I can tend to my own!
Our kids are all home schooled, though the program in which they are enrolled does provide a once-weekly "enrichment day" at the school building with other students. Other than an occasional bit of innocent confusion on the part of some kids, the reaction to both of my sons' long hair has been overwhelmingly positive from both teachers and other children alike.
There was an incident last summer, however, in which my then-5-year-old was harassed and accosted by a couple of older tourist kids at a playground. When they wouldn't relent, and one of them actually tried to kick him, he proceeded to hand them both a solid beat down. Maybe if they'd gotten to know him first, they would have realized they were dealing with a self-described "viking," and thought better of it!
I posted about this event shortly after it happened... the link to that entry is below.
Anyway, thanks again for your comments :)
Cheers,
Val
I definitely do remember that story, and as the link shows, I was also one of the ones commenting... great story, of a young boy with a good father and mother who brought him up in a great way. He is going to be a fantastic young man some day, my friend :)
As for norwegian kids in the preschool ages (5-6), I am afraid REALLY long hair is not at all dominant, if at all present.
This is really mind boggling, considering the scandinavian children have usually absolutely fantastic straight, blonde hair, which most of us born in the rest of the world would kill for! ;)
I do remember a few years back when I had Odin in my class. Odin was then 4.5 and sported a bit longer than shoulder length, wavy blonde, long locks. To say he looked like a little viging angel would be selling it short!
There were quite a few cases of the other kids teasing him for being "a girl", and I always made sure to intrerrupt right away, and take up the theme in front of the entire class. I loved seeing his confidence grow as his hair grew longer :)
That is, until one day he came with short hair! Dad bought him a new bike in exchange for the haircut... bah...
Anyways, we as teachers and grown ups generally, have to always remember we are role models for the little ones, and that they observe and learn everything they do and know through us.
In my class, there are no "boy/girl" colors, everybody holds hands, and we work on including everybody in daily activities and play time, no matter what :)
Anyways, I love what you are doing with your boys, and your 6 year old's hair really awes me!
are you Norwegian Raul?
if so that's splendid! I want to immigrate there one day (as soon as possible haha)
is long hair more common among the adults there? I think it would help keep your head warm, and not to mention you'd be living up to the viking name :)
I am not born here, but have been living here for soon to be the past 10 years of my life :)
Long hair is as common as in other parts of western europe, meaning you see a few longhairs here and there, but it's not at all the dominant style.
Definitely provides a good, warm layer to warm one's scalp in the winter! Hehe.
There is literaly nothing anymore in this world that can make me even close remotely jealous as a very young boy with a magnificent mane, something I would have loved to have, but unfortunately I had phuck ugly haircuts as a kid instead.
Congratulations on being a great father.
I hope he continues wearing his hair long his entire life.
I'm just here with my nowhere near as good looking, shoulder length hair, trying to still growing it out.
Wow, his hair is incredible!!! Congrats to you & your wife for enabling him to grow it very long.
It's a reminder that I've always wished my parents would have been supportive and let my hair grow very long when I was in elementary school and through high school....but with a strict upbringing, I never had that opportunity...I hated my monthly visit to the barber shop!!!
I'm really happy for your son!
A.D.
That looks really good! Kids can grow long hair really well it seems. My nieces seemed to grow their hair effortlessly at that age. Too bad more parents don't allow it for their boys.
Chris
What an amazing picture of your son, Val! It just keeps getting longer and longer.
I hope this doesn't seem too odd, but I would like to mention that you are my role model for ideal parenting. Having a stubborn, dismissive, and angry father, I always felt completely stunted in any sort of self-expression. I am considering having kids of my own in the near future and am scared to death of acting like him. You have strong convictions and encourage your sons to act honorably as men. I believe this is what a father should be like.
Again, I hope this is not out of line. With a subpar fatherly role model, I am looking up to you instead!
-Dan H.