Bangs!

So Paige decided she wanted a "new look" and asked to cut some bangs.  She has never, ever had bangs.  When she was little I grew her hair out and she has always had straight hair parted to the side.

I didn't mind and figured she was old enough to make decisions about her hair and appearance.

It turned out pretty cute, but definitely gave her a different look.

In retrospect, I didn't anticipate the downside of her wearing bangs.  Basically, the bangs were cut and the perfectionist monster came out.  For a while Paige was pretty obsessed about having her bangs look perfect and lay perfectly.  She would talk about it non-stop, cry and throw mini-fits in the morning if her hair didn't look just so.  There were some pretty contentious moments as she started to drive me insane.  It was impossible to reason with her.  I couldn't convince her that her bangs needed time to train themselves not to part to the side or that no one's hair can be perfect all the time.  At one point, I had to send her to her room and forbid her from talking to anyone (mostly me) about her bangs.  She was lucky I didn't shave them off while she was sleeping.

Fortunately, it finally died down and she is more normal about those bangs and doesn't have a mental breakdown if they aren't "perfect."  Whew!  Who knew what a parenting nightmare that would be!