First Haircut

Before I became a parent, I swore that my child would not be "that" child who had what I call muppet hair. Especially if my child is a boy. We've all seen kids with muppet hair. The fine, whispy, feathery hair that won't lay flat. The kind that goes in every direction, and always seems to make it into the eyes, face and ears.

My boy is NEVER going to have hair like that. As soon as it gets too long, it's getting cut!

Well.... several years and one (and three quarters) children later, I present to you:Muppet Mullet!!!!!

And la pièce de résistance:
Why yes, that is my SON'S beautiful full head of hair.

I got mixed reactions to Jonah's lovely locks. Some people admired them. Other mothers agreed that I should wait until it was bugging him to cut it. After all, those baby curls never grow back. Still others said it was time for me to part with them. One mother in our playgroup went so far as to tell me that I have my girl coming, I will have all the blonde curls I want with her but to let my son look like a boy.

I cherished his long curls, however. They were so soft, when he'd come for me to give him a hug I loved putting my fingers into them. I loved washing his hair, lathering it up, singing him our little bath song as I did so. I loved his curls.

But, while running errands one day a few weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that no one, and I mean NO one, could tell that my baby was a boy. Even when he was dressed in VERY boyish clothes. It started at the doctor's office. We were going in just to make sure that Jonah was healthy before going on vacation. He was teething, and that often leads to an ear infection, so I wanted to make sure all was clear before we went on an airplane. As we went back, the nurse who had just called his name, and was looking at his chart that SAYS he is a boy, said "What's the matter with the princess today?" Honestly, I've never met a girl named "Jonah" before.... Then the store clerk at Target. Then the cashiers at Giant Eagle and Petsmart. My little boy looked like a princess. It was then that I realized that my child had muppet hair. It was time to cut it. My baby needed to lose his curls!

Daryl's mom cuts all of her boys' hair. Even now that they are grown men, they go to their mother for their hair cuts. I was really nervous about taking Jonah to a salon or a barber, because what if we got someone who wasn't used to cutting a baby's hair? Would they be patient with Jonah? Would they know how to get him to sit still? Would they be careless and cut him? There was a children's hair salon, where they only cut kids' hair under thirteen years old. I called to get an appointment only to find out that they went out of business that very week. Daryl's mother kindly offered to cut Jonah's hair that evening. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before, because who would be more patient, caring, and attentive than his own grandmother. So that night, out came Grandma's haircutting kit.
We gave him a candy cane that was left over from the holidays, and a small toy that has buttons he likes to push. For the front and sides, he sat in his high chair, and that worked perfectly. But when she got to the very back, she couldn't get the scissors between his head and the chair back, so I held him in my lap for the very end. He was very well behaved for this experience, much to our surprise! He even let Grandma use the shaver to style and shape it.

I am overall very happy with Jonah's new look. His hair isn't in his face all the time anymore, and it was getting hard to wash all that hair on a toddler who won't stop (especially in the tub!) It's also easier to clean his ears out, because his hair is no longer falling in the way!And of course, I saved some of those precious curls for his baby book: