“Callie and Lily? Will you come sit with me for a minute, please?”
My daughters plop themselves in front of me.
“Mommy’s going to take you for a haircut today like we’ve been talking about for a few weeks now. But what I want to talk to you about is something serious, okay?”
Nods.
“In this world there are some very sick children. Those children have a scary illness called cancer. It’s very serious and sometimes they hurt badly. Do you understand?”
Nods.
“The doctors, like our Dr. Margret, give the sick children strong medicine to help them get better and usually that medicine makes their hair fall out; children with cancer don’t have long, beautiful hair like you girls do.”
“Often, very sick children with cancer have no hair at all.”
Nods.
“Today we’re going to get a haircut and I want you to think about all of your beautiful long hair. Sometimes, people with beautiful long hair cut it and give it to the sick children with no hair so that they can have beautiful hair, too.”
“Sometimes, very sick children taking medicine that makes their hair fall out dream about having hair that their mommies can braid and put barrettes in…and very kind, special people give their hair to the sick kids so they can have beautiful hair, too.”
Nods.
“So, we’re going to go for a haircut in a few minutes…and you can either get a little bit cut off and keep your long princess hair or you can get a lot cut off and give it to the sick children who have no hair.”
Nods…
~~~~~~
There has never been a day in my entire life that I’ve been this proud or experienced this feeling of my heart busting out.
Today, my daughters gave.
Not a birthday present at a party, not a wedding present at a reception, not a tip to the Starbucks lady.
Today, my daughters gave a piece of themselves and expect nothing in return.
Today, my daughters – at the age of four – did something selfless.
They have good hearts. They feel. They have compassion.
Today my girls learned that acts of giving and selflessness bring smiles, hope and happiness to others.
That is what brings happiness to them.
And I have never been so absolutely proud and delighted as I am in this very moment; there is no other form of validation in the world that can begin to touch it.
Filed under: LOVE, heart | 30 Comments
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How wonderful!! The pics are GREAT and I love that they actually mailed their hair by themselves.
Good job, mommy!
Wow, my heart just exploded too, Jen.
That is incredible. Just WONDERFUL.
Oh, Huvk, that brings tears to my eyes-the good kind.
Oops-meant Huck; too early and not enough coffeee yet. And by the way, their hair looks wonderful.
Wow! What a great thing you and your girls did
The two of them are ADORABLE! Such a great pic of the 3 of you!
Awe…that is so sweet, so special.
~K
How beautiful!
There hair was long hey! YOH!
LOVE THIS!!!! i didn’t even notice their cuts yesterday when I remarked about your tank top and their jackets…
so beautiful… I’m all teary eyed.
That’s so awesome. You’re raising beautiful girls Jen. Beauty on the inside even more than on the outside. (And that’s a lot).
Oh Jen. That is amazing! And I love love love the photos journaling such a wonderful thing that C&L did! Thank you for sharing!
P.S. They look adorable with their new cuts! Princesses can have short hair too!
{sniff sniff} HOW AWESOME.
My heart swelled reading this. They’re absolutely beautiful!
this is amazing.
what a wonderful life lesson for the girls to learn.
and their new haircuts look super cute. i can’t believe how long their hair was before! wow.
<3
This is amazing.
I see that I am not the first to say how this entry brought tears to my eyes. I am sure that they understood and that they did not mind giving at all. Looking at their pictures, I am sure that they are even happier knowing that they did something very good for someone!
WOW! I am sitting at work crying over this! So heart touching…
So touching Jen, and you are teaching your girls life’s most important lesson to “love others as you do yourself” that will follow them and carry throughout their whole life!!!
Good job Mommy – I would be so proud too!
wow Jen, you have some seriously special girls there! Awesome! Well done mom for bringing up such amazing kids
Priceless! What a beautiful gift, what a gorgeous lesson in giving. I’m without words…I think my heart is bursting too. (Hugs)Indigo
That is amazing. I actually grow my hair for the sole purpose of donating to Locks of Love, and I now look forward to the day that I head to the salon with my daughters to package up three ponytails. They already know three people with cancer, so I don’t think they’ll balk.
I like the hummer picture… too special.
What amazing daughters you have! You are doing a GREAT job, Jen! They look adorable with their new do’s!
Teaching our children the gift of compassion is the most important thing we, as parents, can do. I’ve donated my own hair twice. I am proud of your daughters and proud of you for teaching them this important lesson and for letting them make this decision.
My daughter, also age 4, knows the words “Goodwill” and “food pantry.” Those are both things I do on a regular basis that she has become very taken with. And it comes from her on her own now. When she sees that she has too much stuff in her room, she asks if we can give some of it to Goodwill. When we are at the grocery store, she asks if we can buy items for the food pantry.
Seeing our children demonstrate our values is such an honor…
here is a video of a little girl that could use your daughter’s hair! I saw it on Ellen of all places today of Beyonce singing to a girl fighting cancer.
That is awesome! I’m proud for you. What awesome girls you have!
I’m all verklempt here! Such a lovely present they gave and their new ‘dos’ are adorable!
OK, how many times do I have to tell you people, NO FAIR MAKING ME CRY AT WORK??!!
They are wonderful girls because they have a wonderful mommy. You are teaching them what, in my opinion, is the most important lesson in life. We are here to help others. We give what we have, however little it may be, to someone with even less.
This warms my heart so, so much.
OMG, tears in my eyes at work. Must go to the restroom and dab them away. So precious! Your girls learned compassion from Mom, I’m thinkin’.
I cried!! I love their gorgeous new dos and I want to go to that hairdressers with the cool pink car seat for them.
How amazing of your girls and how brilliant that they got to mail their hair themselves.
xx
Oh my stinkin’ AWESOME!!! Purely wonderful in every way!
Awww Jen – you have SO much in them to be proud of! And you have plenty in yourself to be proud of as well – for teaching them the wonderful gift of compassion and giving. Kudos to all of you! Their new styles look great, and bonus, probably so much easier to deal with on a rushed morning!
Okay now I’m crying.