Today was the first day I went to work without a wig. Why would it be a big deal? Because I work with mostly kids, not grown-ups. I don't worry about what grown-ups think of my hardly there hair, but I do worry about what the kiddos think. When I got to work some of the girls called me into the staff room and gave me a sack full of headbands and flower hair clips. I put on one of my new bowed blue headband and I headed out to one of the sixth grade classrooms. The teachers at school have been amazing. The sixth graders had a lot of stares but no questions. The teacher explained that I had cancer and my treatment made me lose my hair and that I had been wearing a wig but this is the "real" me. Easy peasy, I don't know why I had worried so much about the sixth graders. After 6th grade I headed to Kindergarten. The kindergartners all noticed my "new haircut." The questions I got, "why did you cut your hair?" and "why is it soooo short?" and "are you going to grow it long again?" All and all the kindergartners are just happy to have you in their classroom and happy to have someone help them with their math. Once I'm done with Kindergarten I head to 2nd grade. The 2nd graders are not convinced with my "I got a haircut" answer. So, I sat down with my group of kiddos and I told them that I got sick in January and the medicine that the doctors gave me made my hair fall out. At that point one of the little boys in the group said, "last year I had a red mohawk, I got sick too and all my hair fell at. Did you wear a wig because you were afraid of what people would say because you were bald?" I just wanted to scoop him up. I feel so fortunate to be able to work with kids. I love having a little part of these children's lives. I love being able to give them a kind word or a smile.
Thank you for reading and your support.
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