“Mommy, is that lady a man?”
My daughter’s unabashed question rang out like a clap of thunder in the night sky. Her voice was strong, her intonation direct and her face was as sincere as a priest blessing a sick child.
There was no time to pray for her to lower her voice, the question was already out there, well within ear shot of a tall, burly guy with dirty blonde hair down to his shoulders walking a few feet in front of us at O’Hare International Airport.
All I could do now was close my eyes and hope that the next thing out of my inquisitive and unpredictable little tyke’s mouth wasn’t an equally insensitive follow-up question that was the equivalent of “Mommy why is that man soooo FAT!”
“That man is a man, honey” I replied while herding her into the nearest sundries shop.
“Well, he doesn’t look like a man, his hair is soooo long,” she curtly replied from behind a stack of PEOPLE magazines.
And so began a 10-minute crash course in Long Hair 101: Why Mommies and Daddies Can Wear Pony Tails If They Want To.
That airport discourse took place a couple of months ago, but it all came flooding back while watching the Green Bay Packers outplay the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
I wonder what Troy Polamalu’s kids think about his long locks?
They probably love playing with the jet-black curls with cotton candy consistency. And you know they’ll love daddy’s long, out-of-control coif even more when they are old enough to realize how much money he earns from it. The Steelers’ safety signed a lucrative endorsement deal with Head and Shoulders, so expect to see his long Samoan tresses spilling out from the back of his helmet for some time to come.
Personally, I am not a big fan of long hair on guys. Blame it on my third grade teacher, Sr. Rose Fatima, who once said, “Boys are not supposed to have long hair.”
So where does that leave Polamalu and Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, who sports super long blond locks ala Fabio, and recently signed a one-year endorsement deal with Suave shampoo?
I can see the shirts now: “My Daddy’s long hair paid for my Mercedes.”
I guess if you’ve got it, flaunt it… and if you can make money from it, then more power to you.
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