“Would you like something to drink?” the hostess at Swoop Salon asked.
“Do you have any whiskey?”
Standing in the salon, trying to maintain a hand-hold on squirmy Baby Bird, we waited for her first haircut. My daughter has a beautiful head of hair: a lovely shade of light brown with auburn highlights, thick and full with curls in the back. Her hair is one of the things people comment on when they first see her. Since she’s been home with us, I’ve let it grow (save one awful, quickly aborted, attempt to trim the ends). But lately, her “do” had begun to look like a mullet, so I decided it was time.
We have several options for “kid’s cuts” in Seattle, and I carefully considered them, but ultimately chose to go where and with someone I already knew, someone I could face again if my child had a complete meltdown. That said, it was not without significant trepidation that I called to make an appointment with my stylist, who is herself a mom to two young children.
“What if she starts screaming and disturbs your regular clientele?” I said tentatively to the woman who took my phone call.
“Don’t worry, K. is great with kids. You know, she’s a mom.”
Yes, yes, I thought to myself. But my kid is a very active child, a child who does not like to be physically constrained in any way, a child who—if left to her own devices—never sits still.
We arrived at the salon armed with snacks and Mr. Lion (thank you Shelley!), one of her favorite toys. K. and Baby Bird were introduced and K. took her over to get a booster chair, and then showed her all the tools of her trade: salon chair, spray bottle, scissors, hair on the floor from a previous client. The booster was placed in the chair and Baby Bird was propped on top.
So…how did it play out? Baby Bird was true to form, in a constant state of motion: sitting, standing, squirming, sitting sideways, on the booster, off the booster, on the chair, off the chair. K. was patient and gracious. She pulled out several “tricks” from her stylist hat: handing Baby Bird a comb, uploading animal videos to her smart phone, all for naught.
At one point I asked her, “You’ve cut children’s hair before, would you say Baby Bird is more active than most?”
“Absolutely.”
There you have it. For posterity, I have a lock of hair from her first haircut, and a series of pictures that capture a few of the moments, albeit none of the moments when I was holding her head and she was screaming.
We decided to abandon any efforts to “style” her hair and settled on a light trim with more evenly cut locks, minus the mullet-like, unruly strands. I thanked my stylist profusely and we headed home.
Want to see more snippets of fun? Check out Delicious Baby Photo Friday.
Carolyn Guth says
I remember those days well! You were wise to go to a professional!! I almost cut a hole in David’s ear when he whipped around unexpectedly! Baby Bird is going to be a beauty!!
Beth Shepherd - Pampers and Pakhlava says
I have heard many similar stories, Carolyn…lots of kids who almost lost an ear!
CountryMidwife says
Girly’s hair is to her bum but I am not brave enough! I am SURE
that officially sanctioning hair cutting will lead her to chop her
locks all on her own. As a girl who had ugly ass short bowl cuts
for my entire childhood (often mistaken for a boy with my brothers)
I can’t do it! But birdie sure looks cute 🙂
Beth Shepherd - Pampers and Pakhlava says
I hear SO many stories of (girls in particular) who had life-long memories of hair cutting or hair less-than-ideal memories.