Crazy Hair Day!

The kids had Crazy Hair Day at Base Camp on Wednesday. Caitlin was all on board. We talked about what she wanted. Although I rarely do her hair, we have an abundance of rubber bands and clips left over from her younger years. She dug through her stuff, came up with some clips and things she liked, told me what she wanted, and we went to town. In the end she looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book!

Brandon was another story. He wanted to do something for Crazy Hair Day, but didn't know what. I have some hair clay that will do chunky styles, and I told him I could just spike it in the front. He said yes. After I finished Caitlin's hair, I called Brandon into the bathroom. When I got no reply, I headed downstairs and found him in a crumpled ball on the couch, sobbing. He had changed his mind. I reassured him that was okay, and we left it. About 10 minutes later I  found him on the couch again in a crumpled, soggy mess because he decided he did want to do it, but he didn't know if anyone else would be doing it. We found the postcard that we'd gotten last Wednesday, and I showed him an e-mail I'd received, all to try and convince him that the 26th was really Crazy Hair Day, and that he didn't have to worry about being the only one with crazy hair. It took longer than I thought it would. We decided just to do the front, and then he could smooth it down if I was wrong. *Sigh* I understand conformity. Deep down inside I'm a conformist, too. There have been so many times in my life that I have struggled to fit in. To not be the new girl. To not be the odd one. To not be the smart one. To try and make friends. But I didn't think the fear of the unknown would manifest itself in someone so young. We talked about how he didn't want to stand out in the crowd. He didn't want to be the odd one out. I assured him he wouldn't. So we dried the tears, blew the nose, and styled the hair. I even got a couple of cute pictures out of it as well:

This is how Brandon smiles when I say "smile"

This is his real smile. I like this one better

Because Brandon never acts out in public, no one gets how sensitive he really is. All they see is this relatively normal child who does well in school and obeys. Those are true, but sometimes all the behind the scenes "scenes," like this one, can take a toll! 

Wednesday was a dress rehearsal for us. The next day at school it was Crazy Hair Day! Since we'd done it all before, it was smooth sailing on Thursday morning. Not every mom in the school had as easy of a time as I did. There was much rushing around. Thursday we spiked all of Brandon's hair. Fun!