As a foster and adoptive parent for 14 years as well as a birth parent for 25 years, you might think that I have seen or heard it all. It is true that I do not shock or surprise easily and when a child tries to shock me, I usually reciprocate. Sometimes I help or go along with a joke. Thus, my children are likely to tell me or ask me just about anything. Yesterday, my 18-year-old son asked me to help him with a dare. His boss has resigned and today is the going away party. His boss is balding and some coworkers thought it would be funny if Shea cut his hair to look like the boss’ balding head. The coworkers offered him $20 to cut his hair and keep it covered with a hat until the party. Then they wanted Shea to sit next to the boss at the party and remove his hat. I was surprised that Shea would be willing to shave his beautiful hair for a joke and $20.

I thought about refusing to cut his hair but he was adamant. Shea has thick beautiful hair so it wasn’t easy to shave. He has always been a class clown and enjoyed making people laugh. Joking around helps Shea cover up his dyslexia, too. As you can see by the photo, I went ahead and shaved his head. He made sure that I would be available when he gets out of work today to shave the rest of his head. He is going to a White Tails Forever banquet tonight with his dad and brothers and doesn’t want to look totally stupid there.

I warned him that most men look better with hair. (Jean-Luc Picard is the exception of course!) I suggested that some single daughters might be at the banquet and he might have a better chance with hair. He remained steadfast in his decision. His younger brothers encouraged him and even talked him into shaving a larger area.

Do you think that you would have helped your child do something like this? The last time I shaved someone’s head bald was at a Punk-Rock party back in the late 70s.

Photo Credit Julia Fuller 2008