The First Haircut

Tommy got his first haircut on Saturday, December 11th. I had been back and forth for several weeks if he really needed one or not, and after seeing his Christmas pictures from Monday, decided that yes, it was definitely time. All week I searched for a kid-friendly place that had those special cars that they sit in with videos playing. Our little guy is very active, so I figured we would need something like that to distract him. I found that there are a few different "chain" type places around and I thought there was one at one of the nearby malls, but I could not find it in the directories or on-line when I did a search. Most of the places were over 45 minutes west or north of us. I remembered passing one about 20 minutes away, but when I looked on line in that town, it seemed to be geared more towards girls. On Friday morning, I did another search and came upon one located in Point Pleasant, a very short ride for us - not a chain, just a salon specializing in kids' cuts only. Right now it's only one woman who does all the cuts, though they have 4 different chairs/cars for the kids to sit in. As you'll see in the background of the first picture, they have toys and games for the kids to play with.

I was very lucky to get an appointment - I called at 10am on Friday when they opened, and realized I was probably pushing it, and apologized right off the bat before even asking the woman about availability, since I'm sure this is a busy time of year. I did say that it was my son's first haircut and that after hemming and hawing for too long realized that it was really time, so that may have helped, but she said that she had a cancellation at 12:15, which was the last appointment of the day. I grabbed it, even though I knew I'd have 2 things going against me with that time - lunch time and nap time. Tommy almost always falls asleep right after lunch.

No surprise, Tommy was up bright and early, so by around 11am he was crashing, so I let him fall asleep for about a half hour, before waking him to go. I tried to load him up on some snacks all morning to tide us over for the lunch situation, and it seeme to work. He was still half asleep on the ride over to the place, but when we arrived and I asked him, "Are you ready to get your hair cut?", the little bugger responds, emphatically, "No!"

John planned on meeting us there, and I got there about 15 minutes early so that Tommy could get himself situated, play with the toys, and maybe pick out a "seat" if that's what they let them do. The girl said her appointment before me had not arrived yet, and Tommy would not take that long, so she'd do him now. I freaked a little since John was not there yet, and tried to call, but my stupid bluetooth which was in the car was still on and would not shut off, so I couldn't reach him by phone...when all of a sudden he texts me to say he's on the way. I am trying to get Tommy in the car - which he's fighting me on, as if he knows this is not going to be something he is going to like. I pulled out the camera and Flip video, so I'm snapping away and filming while at the same time trying to comfort and soothe my son who has no idea what's going on. See for yourselves:

Although he looks relatively calm, Tommy actually had tears coming down his cheeks, as if to say, "I can't believe Mommy is doing this to me."

Pointing at Mommy, as if to say, "I know this is all YOUR doing!" (how about the kid in the background looking on wondering what the big deal is...he obviously does not remember how traumatic his first haircut was!) I can see a lot of my Mom in Tommy in this photo for some reason too.

Mommy: "it's almost over, sweetheart!"

Tommy: "yeah, but the girls' loved my mullet!"

Mommy: "No, they actually didn't, son. Ten years from now you'll look back and ask Mommy why it took so long for me to take you for a haircut."

The girl cutting his hair was very good, obviously had a lot of experience working with young kids. She was quick, which is understandable, since Tommy was so upset. I don't think he was even in the chair five minutes, so John did not make it in time unfortunately. But we did all go out for lunch with our handsome little boy. The salon gave us a certificate for the first haircut along with a bag of his hair to save. I have a special keepsake trinket box that someone gave me, and I'll put some in his baby book.

Sporting his new shorter haircut

Right profile!

Left profile...and no more bed head!

I heard that some moms put off the first haircuts too long because they can't bear to part with their child's locks. I can sort of understand that, as Tommy sort of had some curls in the back of his head, but in all honestly, he was starting to look like he had 24 hour bed head and that his parents must be very unkempt individuals themselves if they could let their child out of the house like that. I was amazed at how much the girl actually did end up cutting off.

Little man also turned 15 months old on Friday; we will be going to see Dr. Nito on Monday night for his check up so I will hold off on the 15 month update until we have official "stats" after our doctor's visit.