To those of you who don’t understand why this is a big deal, all I can tell you is that my kids’ first haircuts, when they lost some of those gorgeous little ringlets and started looking like toddlers instead of babies, were really emotional for me, even though I knew how silly and irrational it was. I feel you on this one, WhyNot.
I do have to wonder if maybe Potential Junior Sociopath shouldn’t be left within reach of the scissors, though… (Mostly kidding. I know how kids have a knack for finding dangerous/inappropriate objects the ONE TIME you leave them within reach.)
We just spent a few minutes playing “*Pretend *Hair Cut”, snipping at each others’ hair with our fingers and talking about how when they’re big people, if they want, they can go to Hair Cutting School like his mom did. But until you go to Hair Cutting School, no real scissors near hair!
I’ve, obviously, confiscated his scissors, and they’ll be returned to his mother, not him. And I think I will be checking his pockets for the next few weeks, anyway! We’ve got all our scissors properly stowed in high places and locked art cabinets. (But I did check, just to be sure. All present and accounted for.)
For some reason, the photos don’t show the actual, real, literal bald spots. I’m not sure why. But they are there. sigh She *did *have ringlets, back behind her ears - those will, I think, grow back eventually (since they did after her first hair cut to even out the last hair missing crisis in October.) But I think what MsWhatsit was saying is that any change, even if you expect it, in your kid’s hair can be an emotional experience. And for me at least, she’s right. Thanks for the sympathy, as well as the realism.
When I was about that age, I had long straight blonde hair I could sit on. My mom decided to trim it, so she sent me into the bathroom, saying she’d be right there. Thinking to “help”, I started to comb my hair with the comb she always used for my brother’s haircuts–the one with the recessed razor in it. When Mom saw me she totally freaked out. Sobbing, she called my grandpa on the phone and gasped, “Dad…Dad…it’s Julie…she’s…” Of course, by then my grandpa’s thinking I’ve been hit by a car, so he joins the freakout, as does Grandma, who can only hear half the conversation anyway. It was the first of many bad haircuts I gave myself.
Re my above post: When I said “That’s awful!” I didn’t mean the haircut. I hadn’t seen the photos when I posted. Then when I got to catch up with the thread, my edit time had run out. If these people would just let me Dope instead of work, things would be much simpler!
I laughed out loud at the picture. Not at your daughter’s hair (which isn’t too bad and looks fixable, in my opinion) but at the expression on her face. It’s priceless!
She’s adorable with or without the ringlets. Hopefully a good blending will hide the spots. I certainly hope her ringlets come back.
I begrudgingly took Son #2 in to have his long blond curls lopped off when he was 3 because, well he looked like a little girl and he was getting mighty peeved at being called such. His standard response was “I have a penis.” So now at 8, he wants to grow his hair long. Alas, his hair is now too thick, therefore no ringlets, let alone waves.
I did keep each lopped off curl, and it took 2 canceled appointments before I finally took him in, so I understand the emotional conflict.
You have to find the humor to keep sane, and you’ve found it. I was where you were an hour or so ago when #1 at 6 decided he’d perform his own mohawk after being told he’d never get one. He found Gramps’ shaver and there went the middle part of his head of hair, on went the ball cap when he figured out he messed it up. He was dropped off at school, where the hat was removed upon entering the classroom. THAT picture was in his graduating class’s “baby album” this year.
OMG, WhyNot, I’m SO sorry! My daughter has that pretty wispy blonde hair, too, and I know how I would feel if it got chopped off. (We need a crying smilie.)
Gotta tell ya, though, the look on her face in the picture is hilarious. That’s a keeper.
My little sweetie is one of those girls with an angel face and a devil’s personality. She has a bruise and a scrape on one cheek from an attempt to climb where she shouldn’t to get at a toy, and a big purple goose egg on her forhead, from a fall she took when riding on the back of a pedal car…standing…that a little classmate of hers was driving. I’m embarrassed to take her anywhere, because it looks like someone’s been beating on the poor child.
My wife trimmed our 2-year-olds hair night before last. He has really nice curls, but it was getting a bit too long and hanging down in his face. Yesterday, he managed to climb up to where she hid the scissors, and give himself a haircut. My wife realized it when she found the wad of hair laying in the floor. We are thinking of taking inspiration from my brother and giving him a comb-over.
Oh no! I can imagine how heartbroken you are. (Spencer’s hair is one of my favorite things about his looks, and I still can’t bring myself to get them cut, at the age of 2.) I was the recipient of one of those types of haircuts when I was four. It was the same situation - my older friend found some scissors and wanted to play hairdresser the week before school pictures. I look like a boy in a dress, and I had bald spots, too. I didn’t get my hair cut again until I was 13 (except for bangs and minor trims).
Your daughter reminds me of my little sister. She was a premie too, bald as a doorknob until 4. Of course as soon as her hair got long and pretty enough, she had to take a pair of scissors to it. It set her back a little while.
Now see, WhyNot, once again, you are approaching this the wrong way. This is the ideal preparation for Baby’s First Mohawk. Be even better if you still got some of that Easter Egg dye left over. my big mouth is gonna get me killed one of these days
Every group of little kids decides to copy grown up jobs for play. I’ve seen three times where the haircut was with safety scissors. The worst was my cousin that had long blond hair. She had much shorter hair for summer, just a bit longer than a boys hair cut. Parents never think to say you are never allowed to cut hair, even playing. None of the kids I’ve never seen cutting hair to have been done it to be malicious, and they were always to be the next victim of pretend. Don’t get to harsh on the boy. I bet your daughter was going to cut his hair next.
Ooh, WhyNot, I feel for you. Once when my friend’s ex took their son for the weekend (I think the kid was about 2.5 at the time), he returned their son with a shaved head. It’s grown back nicely, and so will WhyBaby’s, but it’s ok to sit and cry for now! She is a cutie with or without hair, though!.
When my # 2 (boy) and # 3 (girl) were 4 and 3 respectively, he cut her hair. It looked horrible. But they looked so cute sitting there, him with the scissors, the two of them surrounded by hair snippets, innocent “what’s the problem, officer?” stares on their faces…couldn’t stay mad.
I guess when the barber is someone else’s kid, it’s harder to forgive. But find it within yourself. Hair grows back, but the innocence, even if it’s full of mayhem, eventually disappears. Appreciate it.
(My # 5, who turns 4 tomorrow, did it to herself. It was less funny than sad; her bangs had been bothering her, but we were hoping to grow them out, but obviously, she wasn’t crazy about that beauty strategy. I felt bad for her afterward for putting her through the discomfort; she doesn’t understand about growing out bangs.)
I just found her little broom - apparently they even planned to sweep up like in the beauty shop! There’s a fair amount of blond hair here! (No, they didn’t sweep up that nice little pile, that was all over my living room floor.)
There are also a few unmatching black hairs. Come to think on it, I haven’t seen the cat all day…
(No, they didn’t sweep up that nice little pile, that was all over my living room floor.)