Independence got hot and sticky

A month or so ago , my 9 year old asserted his independence in the most obvious way yet.
"Mom, I want to grow my hair out."
Okay. As long as you keep it combed and clean, that's fine.
Although the independence is still growing within this ever growing child, the long hair experiment has ended, at least for now. "Long hair is hot. And itchy. And annoying. And it's in my eyes."
So he requested a haircut. I normally do them myself, but instead we went to a new salon to get the new 'do this time.
Here's the before:

The salon is new -- a Vietnamese-family owned business, where a little boy ran free, amongst the ladies getting pedicures, crayons in hand. The owner stood by the door to greet us when we came in. "You want haircut? Ten dollars!" even though the listed price was $13. The stylist made my feet hurt, just looking at those shoes. Seriously. How do you cut hair all day wearing those?

Of course the little sister couldn't be left out. "I want a haircut too mommy!"

Afterwards (note the "after haircut" below) we headed to Owen's math/science fair at school -- another sign of just how much this child is growing up. He created a math board game, everything made from scratch -- no computers included. It was all brainpower, markers, paper, glue, poster board and craft supplies. Electronics are great, but it is obvious how creativity abounds when everything has to literally be made with two hands.

There is something pure and inspiring about elementary schools, where so many young minds are molded and expanded: primary colors, art on the walls, crisp, clean, pure. As we walked out the door, as the evening drew close to 8 p.m., the sun still shining bright, I was enthused as we look forward to summer break, long days, late nights, freedom to hang out at the pool and the park, staying up late with books in bed, movie nights, walks to the park, days at the zoo, weekend getaways to nearby towns.

In just a few short months, we'll be back in these halls, this time with a fourth grader. Lil' sis still has another year until she is the oldest Kindergartner in the class, born just 8 days too late to go there this fall. My oh my: independence, growing up, days gone by, milestones reached -- has the time really passed us so quickly? Here's to hoping we can grasp on to every moment.