Now What?

Little girls need to come with hair instructions. I've always wanted my girl to have long hair, just like I did as a little girl (before my mom let me get that wretched shag cut and then permed it back in the 80's). However, I don't remember it being this hard to manage! I should have figured as much, given that I cut my hair off every time it gets long.
But here we are...she's finally got it long enough so that I can put it in pig tails, a pony, braids, or even a french braid. And she doesn't want it cut. She'll even sit for me, if the mood is right. But 80% of the time, it looks like a scraggly mess. So do I go against the wishes of a 3 year old (does she really care?) and get a nice, chin length bob? Or do I just go with the flow and hope that once winter is over, it looks better? But then we enter popscicle season. Oh joy.