Here is a practical answer.

The problem with a female having no hair is people say hurtful things about her, sometimes to her face. And it is a radical solution. I am not saying it is wrong, I am saying it is attention getting.

Maybe it is a good solution, I don't know. If your GD is sensitive and easily falls apart at criticism and can't wear a beanie cap at school if her head gets cold, then I'd say try another solution. I'd talk to the GD first and say it is appropriate to get your hair cut short and shorter hair is easier to manage but shaving the head has consequences. Let's just talk about them and see what you think.

Long hair is a pain in the rear end for me. My current bob is just below my ears.

My current goal is I am going to grow out my bob to below my chin or at my chin. No longer have the "stacked" back of head but just slightly shorter in the back and slightly longer at the chin. I went and got my hair cleaned up and slightly trimmed yesterday because I had the appointment set up and decided last minute to change my hairstyle. I am glad she trimmed the very back and some of the front because it needed it to grow out smoothly.

I've had a pixie haircut and loved it, your head is unburdened from all that weight of hair. I have a small head and am petite so short hairs fits my frame and head.

I love short hair as it feels free. So I can relate to the idea of a buzz cut.

I could not do a shaved head as I have Raynaud's and my head and ears are always cold. If I got cancer and had chemo, I'd shave my hair first off and wear a fleece beanie cap 24/7. So perhaps I have some bias here. I am seeing more women modeling with shaved heads. People are speaking out about alopecia, too.

And the problem of lice, well my kids also got lice in the late '90's. The only thing that worked back then was this "natural" stuff you ordered and it was a lot of oils if I remember right. The person had to put a lot of it in their hair down to the scalp and wear a shower cap covering the hair for a few hours. It killed the lice by smothering them. But you still have to comb those dang pests out of the hair. And then shampoo about twice to get the oils out. My understanding from 25 years ago is that the common pesticides for lice do not work because lice are immune.

Hair stylists generally will not cut hair if the person has lice.

Now my son got it with his sisters who got it first. And he wanted a buzz cut and it was so much easier. I used to make him lay on the kitchen floor and I'd do his buzz cut. But that was his choice of haircut for many years. I got pretty good at using those electric hair shears and cutting bangs for my daughters.

yup, i might call that a standard party line, hasty. sometimes i wish i had collected the rhetoric i've heard since my first buzz in 1995. my shrink of the era called it, "self-mutilation." she verily short-circuited at first, but started coming around by the time hair was freshly grown to my shoulders. grown out buzzes make some nice styles on their way out. freshly grown hair is far healthier than old hair, even on young heads. i've gotten free dinners for the cancer girl look and even inspired a cancer patient to lose the "head girdle." her name for the wig.

but, keeping it age-appropriate, 3rd graders can still get pretty mean and this girl takes everything to heart. she wants long hair like ALL the other girls in her school, but her hair is a force of nature. think african. on her best hair days, her long hair is smoothed over tangles. nit combs? i might qualify that as cruel and unusual punishment on her ever tangled hair.

anyhoo. . .

she decided on another "boy cut" and withstood the nit comb through shorter hair with fair elegance. dunno if my geriatric eyesight got them all. prayers both needed and appreciated.

If she has curls or you can do the tight rings, I'm seeing more and more women with "textured" hair or "melanated skin" hair doing the tight little rings at the head or the shorter tight rings of hair, some even to their shoulders. I love natural hair, I loved the "afros" people wore in the 70's. I hate the wig look. I actually use a shampoo called Nubian Heritage that I have to rinse out a lot because my fine hair has wave but doesn't need conditioning. But this shampoo gives me Lucious body and if I allow it to curl or wave, it is very natural and wild. People do sometimes comment on the wild look when I show up to bookclub like that but HEY, we are not the robots of culture either one of us. Are we?

As much as I mourn being kicked to the curb as a mother, I do not miss those days of long girl hair and lice. Hugs and more hugs to you. These kids are so fortunate to have you loving on them.

"If she has curls or you can do the_________."

i'd sure like to watch you try with this little angel, hasty. on the occasions i have succeeded with such measures, she typically has the cutsies torn from her hair before she gets out the door. so far, she is girlie girl to the max, but that head of hers burns hot and sensitive. she has the patience of a saint but beware the wrath of a patient soul. when she's had enough, proceed at your own risk.

sigh. . . my first parenting career was all boys. in this regard, i miss that simplicity.

Change is good but it should be productive and helpful.

I buzzed my hair off for like 10 yrs. Sometimes I grew it out to a pixie cut. Yeah, people can say crazy things to you, but it really depends on how comfortable the person with the buzzed head feels in their own skin. Like, does criticism bother them? I would at least give her a pretty hat to wear or a bow.

I think you need to look at her behavior. She is doing something, or going somewhere, that allows for reinfection? Does her entire room get disinfected everytime or does she have a stuffed animal that does not get washed acting as a resevoir for these eggs?

Also there are charities out there that will accept long hair to make wigs for cancer surviors. Get her entire class to do it. then no one can bully her

a fellow radical? you just might be the first i've encountered, bluesky. i swear the entire world is a fool for a woman's hair.

in the current elementary school fashion set, a girl with hair above her shoulders is guaranteed to hear the gender slams. "SHE looks like a boy," etc. wearing less than a ton of make-up and jewelry is almost enough to guarantee those narrow-minded slams.

but my beautiful, precious princess is weathering the harassment well in her spunky new haircut. her curly haired friends are green with envy at the absence of the daily comb-outs. one of them even asked if i could convince her mother to let her have such a cut. not a chance, love. your mama is a girlie girl grown old.

get a group of girls to show support by cutting their precious hair? what culture are you from, bluewave? not even when the most popular girl in school is suffering through chemotherapy.

one of the more awe-inspiring interactions i've had from my head shaves was one of the cancer survivors who had received one of those wigs of which you speak. she called hers, "a head girdle" and thanked me for giving her the courage to take it off, right there in the middle of the restaurant. she then broke out in song, "oh what a relief it is! ! !"

i danced with her, right there in the middle of the restaurant. we got a standing ovation from patrons and staff, alike. a most liberating moment.