OK, I Get It

I've mentioned before that I have really short hair. I have also mentioned that I occasionally wish for long hair - more than occasionally actually. Recently I've started thinking about growing it out again. There are several reasons. Some are vane, others are ridiculous. It may not be right, and I am ready to hear from you if you think it's wrong, but lately I'm starting to believe that it's hard to be feminine and womanly with short hair. Now that I have a daughter, I feel a special responsibility to be feminine and womanly.

But I won't completely put this on Abby. Sam's played a part too. See recently he has started to notice - or at least admit that he notices - when girls are attractive. Last week he openly ogled a contestant on American Idol. When pressed he said he liked her smile, her dress and ... her hair.

The next day in the car I told him I was thinking about growing my hair. After I explained the idiom he said he thought that would be a good idea because with longer hair I wouldn't look like a boy.

Then last night a commercial for Propel Fitness Water came on TV. If you don't know it, it features a woman in exercise clothes walking with headphones on. She's happy to be exercising and drinking Propel, but she's even happier because John Stamos, Derek Jeter and Taye Diggs are knocking each other over to point their finger guns at her as she strides by.

"That's what happens to me when I walk down the street," I told Sam. "Men stop and smile and point."

"No they don't!" he replied.

"Sure they do. Why not?" I asked.

"Because you don't have enough hair!" Sam told me.

An update: When I picked Jake up from school tonight, one of his classmates announced "Jake, your daddy's here!"