Vanessa gets a much needed hair cut

Before - I can't believe how LONG it was!

after

My little girl with her head in the clouds, or rather, under the sea.  She wishes she was a mermaid.  This long curly hair is so beautiful, but it is so hard to take care of it.  It only looks best about 20 minutes after her bath when it dries nicely with it all combed out and curled up.  One night and it is all over, and she wakes up and it is everywhere.  Tangled, in knots, and what ends up happening to it is an effort on my part to "keep it in place" which meant a small rubber band holding the top half to the side and a pony tail, bun, or braid for the rest.  Then the little fuzzy short hairs near the top of her head escape and she looks like she's stuck her finger in a light socket.

I was giving Eli a haircut (and the reason for his was when I noticed a tangled chunk of hair sticking straight out horizontal from his head) and thought I'd give Vanessa a trim too.  After swimming for hours one day at home, I knew it was all tangled up.  I had her get out of the pool so I could comb it out, but what convinced me it was time for a trim was a golf-ball size mass of tangles that I tried for 30 minutes to carefully untangle.  That method was clearly not working.  I had her stand outside in her swimsuit with a hose with warm water and I shampooed and conditioned her hair outside.  Washed it, rinsed it, and then smeared so much conditioner in it I felt like her head and my hands were all one big slime ball.  It worked though.  I used my fingers to pull hairs free of this tangled mass and eventually got it straightened out.  The above "before" pic with her hair all wet was after detangling it.

I cut about 4-5 inches off, and it sprung back up into curls.  She was initially disappointed it wasn't long but I told her it looks like Sofia the princess she loves and she felt better.