Oops

The other day Julia and I were playing with her American Girl Dolls.  We were changing them into some different outfits, taking them to school, and lots of play time.  I turned one of the dolls over and noticed that her hair looked funny.  Most of it was still long, but there was a very large section across the back that was layered unevenly and quite a big shorter.  So I asked, "Julia, did you cut your doll's hair?"

Julia's response was given with big eyes and a guilty expression as she said, "Oops."

I was trying to figure out in my mind as to why she would have done it - thinking that maybe a friend had dared her to (sorry Julia's friends - was hoping it hadn't been her idea).  So I asked her why she cut it.

Julia replied, "Well, I was watching this YouTube video and the girl was cutting just a little bit off the bottom of her doll's hair.  I tried it, but I wasn't as good as she was and I cut off a lot more than she did."

I shared that I wasn't sure how to respond because we'd been through a few hair-cutting episodes in the past - Riley cut her own hair, I had cut my friend's hair when I was younger (it was awful - took a chunk from the top and cut it really close so it stuck up).  I told Julia that I wasn't sure if I should be glad that it wasn't a human and that it was just a doll, though very expensive at that, or if I should be wishing it had been a human because at least the hair would grow back.  Either way we talked about how it wasn't a good choice.

She didn't say anything and I could tell she was nervous - as she should be.  I asked her where she had put the doll hair that she cut off.  She said she just threw it away in the trash.

Then I asked how long ago she had done this.  Julia said that it was a really long time ago and before she got her Tenney doll so she was at least 7.  A few more questions were asked to try to dig out more information about the timeline.  I asked if she'd done it this summer and she said she had.  Or that she thought she had.  And that she was honestly just really not sure when she had done it.

I shared that as she'd taken a really nice doll that we'd spent good money on and cut the hair, she should really think about apologizing.  Julia said, "I'm sorry." I asked her to elaborate on what she was sorry for.  She shared that she was sorry for cutting her doll's hair.

It could have been much worse, but hoping the remainder of her dolls keep all of their hair.

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