Out of the Mouths of Babes

Now that my hair is proving that a little toxic Taxol can’t stop it from sprouting with a vengeance, I am no longer being mistaken for a hairless cat or a potato. Great news! But, as the hair grows back I am forced to reveal that I have spent about 12 years pretending that my hair is brown when in reality is has gotten progressively more grey every year. “But Arielle, you’re only 34! How is it possible that you have that much grey hair?” Great question, I’m glad you asked. I have inherited lots of qualities from my dad, some good, like my sense of humour and logical brain while others are soul crushing if you’re a woman – including having ridiculously giant feet and finding my first grey hair at 18.

Last weekend my 7 year old nephew noticed that my newly sprouted hair doesn’t look quite the same as my old hair:

Liam: “auntie, why is your hair so grey?”

Me: “because that’s the Colour of my hair”

Liam: “but I thought your hair was black?”

Me: “actually it was brown. But that’s because I would colour it so it would all be the same”

Liam: “maybe you should colour it now”

Me: “I think my hair is still too short to do that right now”

Liam: “well…you kind of look like an old man”

Me: “…”

The kid is lucky that I love him.

I also went to work last week to have lunch with the girls that I work with and one told me that one of our regular preteens had come into the community Centre. The kids in the community love to come in, chat and play cards with the staff. Uno is hands down the most popular game and one of the 12 year old boys in the neighbourhood has come in almost every single day of the summer to play with anyone willing to challenge him. This conversation happened During a recent Uno battle:

Kid: “what kind of cancer does Arielle have?”

Staff: “um…well…” (Staff pauses trying to think of the best way to answer since saying the word “breast” will absolutely send the 12 year old boy into giggle fits)

Kid: “is it hair cancer?”

Staff: trying to keep a straight face “no, she doesn’t have hair cancer”

As the saying goes, kids say the darnedest things.