Your childhood view of hair and the view you hold now!

[0xalis]

My longest hair ever was during my childhood. The longest it's been since then was a bit past APL which still isn't even truly long hair.

I grew from a bob at age 4 (because I got ahold of scissors and butchered my own hair lol...) until my 11th birthday when my hair was somewhere between waist length and hip length.
My mom encouraged me to grow my hair. She always loved long hair but hated her own hair so she keeps hers medium length. (I wish she'd realize it's just the heat damage and lack of careful brushing...)
My dad has also had long hair my entire life, to this day. He wears a wig now because he's balding so badly, but he still has a tiny grey ponytail underneath!
Mom got really excited when my hair was long enough to cover my chest, she said that it was mermaid hair!

No idea the true length of my hair when I cut it. We never thought to take length photos. I have seen several photos from age 10 where my hair is at least to my elbows tho (which on my body is exactly where my waist is.)
Keep in mind I was a VERY tiny child so that would probably be closer to BSL, mayyybe MBL on adult me but it looked very long on my tiny frame and everyone loved my long hair.
It became part of my identity, which is why I call myself a "longhair at heart". Ever since that chop I have tried and failed many times to grow my hair back to what it once was.
I think I'm far more likely to succeed this time though for many reasons.

So yeah on my 11th birthday I decided, on a complete whim while my mom was getting a trim, to cut all my hair off and donate it.
(Nowadays I know that most donation companies for hair are more or less scams so that sucks, but hey maybe my hair did get to be a wig, that'd be cool.)

The rest of my "childhood" (ages 11-18, I still feel like a child sometimes honestly...) I mainly spent with very short hair.
Sometimes I loved the short hair, (especially after figuring out that I'm gay) other times I felt extreme regret and Cursed my 11 year old self for cutting their hair!
I grew to past APL right before I graduated high school, but due to a very persistent case of lice I ended up shaving it all off

Today my perception has changed, mostly in that I don't see waist length as "very long" hair anymore. It's long yeah, but a more normal long length.
Everyone around here seems to cut off 6'' or more when their hair gets long enough to sit on, so I definitely want at least classic length hair, I need my hair to be impressively long!
Even if I grow that long and then decide I don't want to keep it that long, I need to try it at least once, for science!

And as I mentioned before, I feel that I have the best chances of actually reaching my goals now compared to when I was a tween/teen.
I would always see cute short hair and/or cute dyed hair and stray off the path, but I'm not as easily swayed by trends now.

[beha]

I was known for having long hair as a kid-preteen. I didn't do much to it or care; I just didn't go to the salon so it grew. Girls at school liked it and complimented it. My parents and some family members called me Cousin Itt. My family really were *******s about it. One time my mom snuck up behind me while I was watching TV and trimmed it to shoulder length. To this day she defends her behavior, saying it was long and unkempt and that I "liked it afterward", as if that justifies it.

[BuddhaBelle]

I loved it but because I had always had long hair I wanted to and did go short; now I’m back to wanting long hair. Hopefully because I have had short hair and I know what it’s like I wont be tempted to go back

[Dung Beetle]

When I was a kid, my hair was blonde and so long I could sit on it. I can't recall ever giving it any thought except that I hated having Mom brush it because of the tangles. Also, she would part it on the side and hold the heavy side back with a barrette, exposing my giant forehead. I thought that style was so ugly.

When I was around ten, I lived in a neighborhood where there were no girls to play with, and my brother would always take off with the neighborhood boys. I thought they would like me more if I was a tomboy, so I asked to have my hair cut really short. Did I mention I had big goofy glasses? The boys still didn't like me, and I looked just like John Denver.

[xel]

I was always fond of the ridiculously long hair found in wuxia shows or period dramas! My mum's a fervent supporter of short hair, and so I had short hair as a child. Grew it out the first chance I got, though.

[FaeBroom]

I voted that I wasn't bothered, my hair was shoulder to APL throughout my childhood. I was a bit of a tomboy with a tender scalp, so my looks weren't on my mind too much until my teen years. And then I was an emo kid, and wanted layers upon layers and every color hair dye I could get my hands on... if my mom let me.

[Laurel Rose]

Hair was just hair. My mom complained about my shed hairs if it was "long" so I usually kept it around shoulder to keep her happy. Also I had PTSD/depression and didn't take care of my hair so even if I was allowed/wanted long hair it would've been a nightmare.

[Hellebore]

I had long, beautiful hair as a child...that I promptly cut into a bizarre, punk-rocker look because I got wild with scissors when I was seven or eight. I think my mom wanted to murder me.

I wasn't really fascinated by long hair as a child, but I can tell you that for some reason, as a kid I thought waist-length hair was wayyyyyy longer than it actually is. I knew what a waist was, but if someone described a person with waist-length hair, my mind immediately thought of TBL.

Now that I'm at WL I am painfully aware of how much shorter it really is.

[emilyogini]

Always loved long hair. My favorite aunt had long hair, and I grew up as her spitting image. Long hair was in all my mermaid and fairy books. Also, Mom really raised me on Cher and her music so...

[Jools69]

It wasn’t until I started primary school that I became aware of long hair. Throughout my childhood, I used to be in awe of my fellow class mates with long hair and wanted long hair that I could put into different styles, but my parents insisted that I had short hair. My mother always wore her hair short, so I suppose she wanted me to follow suit and didn’t want the extra hassle of grooming it until I did. Although I was an only child until I was 5 and didn’t have another sibling until I was 11. My father always complained about my shedded hairs throughout the house and probably thought having it short would cure that. It didn’t and I still got hassle for it.

My view hasn’t changed that much now. As a young adult, I kept my hair around shoulder length to fit in with the current trends, but still marvelled at anyone with long hair. Now in middle age, I’m determined to have long hair, as I feel it’s my ‘last chance’ to have it.