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Last weekend Mateo needed a haircut. Now that it's summer I asked him if he wanted to shave his head like he did last year. "I do, mom," he said. "But I also love my curls." So I suggested he do both. "What about a mohawk?" I asked. At first he was very into the idea, until of course, he got in the chair. I could see in his face that the reality of having his head half shaved and half long was too hard to face for a six (almost seven) year old. 

Once it was over, he begged me to let him cut it all off. "Please, Mom. Please, everyone's going to laugh at me!" I told him, they wouldn't and that in fact, people were going to think it was the coolest thing ever. "Trust me," I said. "Trust me," his dad said. "Yeah Mateo, trust them!" said his brother. After a tear or two, he climbed down off the chair, brushed the last few strands off his shoulders and decided to trust us and go bravely out onto the sidewalk to face the crowds who would surely make him the laughing stock of Santa Monica.

But of course that didn't happen. Everyone from his friends, to his camp counselors, to the guy bagging our groceries tells him how cool his haircut is. And with just those small words of validation, a little boy's confidence can rest just a little easier.