Does North West Even Recognize Newly-Blonde Mom Kim Kardashian?
Kim Kardashian shows off her new white hairstyle in Paris. Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images.
It’s been a big week for Kim Kardashian. On Friday, Mrs. Kanye West debuted new platinum blonde locks at Paris Fashion Week. By Monday, she’d traded the yellow locks for an ice-white shade. And while the fashion critics are always quick to weigh in, the real question on every celeb-gazing mom’s mind: What does North West think?
When I was growing up, every time my dad took his glasses off I had to do a double take. They were, I thought, part of his face. Without them he looked like a different person. And those were only glasses! So I have to wonder what 21-month-old North must have thought when she first saw her mom’s new ‘do. Did she recognize her? Did she recoil? Did she think “who is this Draco Malfoy look alike in my bedroom?”
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Kim Kardashian’s new blonde hair. Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
“Even a haircut from long to short on mommy can confuse [toddlers],” says Dr. Tovah Klein, Director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development and author of How Toddlers Thrive. “As they separate and become their own person, they become slowly more aware of who they are, and they notice details about others as well. They like things to stay the same as this is where they gain a sense of control and predictability. Change is frightening and they don’t know what it means, so a change to mommy can be a sudden jolt.”
Kim Kardashian’s signature dark hair. Photo by Getty Images.
That doesn’t mean you have to keep the same hairstyle until your kid is 18. You just might have some explaining to do. “The child needs a clear and repeated explanation that this is still your mommy. The same mommy. She still makes you breakfast, cuddles you and puts you to bed. But her hair is different,” Klein says. “The verbal explanation is needed to provide the bridge for the child from the ‘old’ mommy she envisions with long hair to the ‘new’ mommy with short or blond or whatever the change. And they made need the explanation several times before they can believe it.”
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Photo by Kim Kardashian/Instagram
If Kardashian’s Instagram is to be believed, she and North have adjusted to the new look just fine. On Monday, Kardashian posted two selfies of the pair snuggling in bed and reading books before bedtime. In a caption, she made clear that North was still giving her what every mom wants, writing simply, “Kisses and cuddles.”
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