Dear world,

It turns out that sometimes, boys have long hair! I know, I know – it’s totally crazy. A neighbour once exclaimed to me after meeting my son that she didn’t know a boy’s hair could grow that long. I guess she thought that God made boys with penises and crew cuts. It turns out, according to Google, boys have had long hair for a long time! Years, even. Heck, I’ll let you in on a secret. My ancestors have had long hair for thousands of years! Tens of thousands, even. Here is a picture of my great-great-grandfather. His name is Kamiokisihkwew, but you can call him Fine Day. Anyway, this is him at age 50 in 1908. Check out the hair! So now you can see how it’s possible for his descendant, my wild and rambunctious 3 year-old, to have such long hair. It’s genetic!

But all hilarity aside, I will say this: it took some courage to let Travis’s hair grow long. I wanted to do it with my first son, but I was afraid of what other people would think, so I didn’t. When Travis was born, I wanted to call him River and although I didn’t quite have the courage to do that, I did decide to let his hair grow out. It’s gorgeous. Long, blonde and down his back almost to his bottom. Wow! Who knew? He loves it, too, or says he does. We brush it everyday, usually braiding it too. It’s just what boys do in my family – my brothers and my dad also have long hair.

 

Every day, people think Travis is a girl and that’s okay. We’ve mostly gotten used to it. Most people are embarrassed and gracious when I tell them he’s a boy. The other day, in the car he said, “I am a boy.” I agreed with him. Then he said, “But I look like a girl.” I said, “Some people think you look like a girl, that’s true.” When I was unbuckling him from his car seat, I said for the millionth time, “Do you want to cut your hair, honey? You could have it short like your brother’s. I can cut it, or we can go to a hair salon. We could do it today if you want.” And for the millionth time he responded, “No! I keep hair.” So he remains my beautiful boy with long blonde hair. We like it this way.