Ohh, thanks, I'll try that. It just keeps slipping....it probably doesn't help he's a very active lad.
As for why he keeps his hair...it's kind of complicated. Me and my husband are Pagans (not the same sort of Pagan, naturally lol) and part of our beliefs are that, as far as is possible and practical, what happens to our body is up to us and not for society to dictate. Same goes for our children. My branch of Paganism very much trends towards leaving hair/beards natural, (although it's not insisted on) and my son believes this too. He hasn't had his hair cut since he was old enough to say 'I don't want my hair cut' when he was two - and he didn't have it cut before then either. It's, um, part of who he is, if you see what I mean? Also part of are beliefs are to be true to who you are, rather than conform to what other people think you should be. (well, within reason! There are proscribed limits, but they are pretty broad. No adultery, no murdering, no oathbreaking. If you hurt someone else, emotionally or physically, you have to make reparations to them or their family, and those reparations could be anything, from money to serving the family for a set time, or whatever)
At his primary school they had no problem with it - it was always neatly tied back in a plait or ponytail and never got in the way. However, the secondary school's objection to his hair is 'it's not socially acceptable for a boy to have long hair'. Which, apart from being ridiculous, isn't enough of a reason for us to make him cut his hair. It's not as if long hair affects his academic ability! As a compromise, we said we'd tie it any way they liked so it would be out of the way and practical, and luckily they agreed and said we could tie it the same as their Sikh pupils. Hence my tussle with the patka :D
