Karren and the Widow's Peak

When Karren was about 9 or 10 years old, she wanted to grow out her bangs. At that time, the standard method was to grow out the bangs as long as aesthetically possible, and then push them back behind a headband until the process was complete. So I counseled patience, and we watched as her bangs lengthened, gradually covering her eyebrows and then beginning to obscure her vision.

Finally it was long enough to attempt the headband. I brushed her hair back, slid the headband over her forehead and a few inches beyond. So far so good. But--there was a bristling of stubble at the hairline. What on earth? I asked Karren sternly, and after some defensiveness and some implausible deniability, the truth came out. Karren disliked her widow's peak, so she shaved it off. And clearly, the deed was quite recent.

I explained to her that widow's peaks are beauty marks; that, like it or not, shaving it off was not the answer; and that growing out her bangs would have to wait until the stubble grew out to match. And so it was, to her frustration, that I trimmed her bangs, and we had to wait for months before we could attempt the headband again.