I recently shaved my hair down to about 1/2 inch or so because I've lost so much anyway; and, I wanted to give my scalp a break from the traction hair loss. Anyway, I have a 7 yr old granddaughter who I get to see about every other month. I wore a cap the first visitation after I cut my hair off. She asked why I was wearing it; and, when I explained, she wanted to see my hair. I took my hat off; and, her only reaction then was "wow, you did lose a lot." She never said anything else or indicated that it bothered her. So, I wasn't sure what she was thinking. Our next visit we went to a movie. Part way through, I said I wanted to take my hat off 'cause it was a bit hot in the theater. She didn't say anything. But she looked at me with wide eyes, moved to the edge of her seat, and stiffened herself so she was looking directly at the movie screen. That just about broke my heart. She is one of the few people in my life who I really care about upsetting. I'm not sure how to talk to her about this. I don't want her to be one of those people who thinks there's something wrong with people who have hair loss. I don't want her to be distant from me because of it. If my hat is on, she's her usual laughing energetic self. When the hat comes off, she freezes. To make matters more complicated, she's not legally a part of my family; she was adopted and I have visitation as long as her parents say I can. If I give her any reason to not want to see me, that'll be it. They won't make her; and, I'll lose her. Really sad thing is she's very likely to inherit this. The female pattern baldness is frequently passed from paternal grandmother to her grandchildren (if they're going to get it). My sister and I both got it from our paternal grandmother. Anyway, I'm just afraid I'll alienate my granddaughter instead of being the inspiration for her to understand this. I don't know what to do. The parents don't really want to talk to me about anything; so, I'm pretty much on my own here.
Sorry for the rambling on...