The term “hair pony” has a special place in my heart. Ever heard of it? Chances are you have them in your home.
A hair pony is any kind of hair accessory. My daughter Sara came up with that phrase when she was a little girl. She confused the term pony tail with the band that held her hair in the pony tail. She absolutely loved having her hair fixed. Me, not so much.
I guess you can say hair ponies were the misery of my childhood. Seriously. My mother would see other little girls’ hair fixed certain styles and wanted to try them on me. In all fairness, she should have known better. For one, I don’t like sitting still and you have to do that while getting your hair styled. I would squirm and whine the whole time. My mom would tell me if I’d quit squirming, she’d get done sooner. Then I would complain about her wasting my time. I wanted to be outside where I could run, catch butterflies, dig up worms, or ride my bicycle. You know, the things that are way more important that any old hairstyle.
Now that I think about it, I was a rather low maintenance kid. As for Sara, she is more high maintenance like my mom in that they like their hair not only fixed, but every strand has to be in place.
My mom, also Sara’s Mimi, would stop by our house in the mornings before school or church and fix Sara’s hair. First, they would pick out a hair pony that coordinated with her clothes. That in itself was not an easy feat. Oh no. Sara had a whole drawer full of hair ponies in her dresser. Not only were there many types of them, but I think there were some in colors I had never before seen. Then Sara would tell Mimi how she wanted her hair fixed. Sometimes, Mimi would ask if she could try something new in Sara’s hair.
Not having any hair fixing skills, I would sit on Sara’s bed and watch. While Mimi worked on Sara’s hair, she stood perfectly still. Instead of whining like I used to do, Sara would have fun conversations with her Mimi. I soon realized it was a special bonding time for them. One that Mimi couldn’t have with me as a little girl.
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:30-31 (KJV)
When you think about it, that verse is kind of mind-blowing. There billions of people on this planet, and yet The Lord knows the number of hairs on each person’s head. Simply put, I can’t wrap my brain around that number. Here’s another thought on it. That number is fluctuating from second to second. That’s the God we serve.
As for Sara, she stayed high maintenance, but her attitude about it changed as she grew up. When she was in college, we would drive her back to the University of the Cumberlands on Sunday nights. One time she complained about all of the stuff we had to carry to her dorm. I told her, “Well, you are high maintenance.” She promptly answered, “I know, but I don’t want everybody else to know that.”