The Cutting of Hair

I broke out the clippers and gave the boys' their first good haircut at home, last night. I had tried to use scissors before, snipping here and there, as they turned their heads and generally tried to find some other place to be. That doesn't work so well.

Having decided that I had approximately 1 minute to cut each one's hair, before they started completely flipping out on me, I reached for the clippers. I have to say, I am rather impressed. I am so glad that I bought a new pair, and that the clippers came with different sized guides, that were color coded. I used a #3 on the back, and over the ears. Then I took the guide off and used them much like I would scissors, for taking a little off the top. Getting the neckline was a little tricky, since my Little Bear thought that it tickled, and kept trying to grab the clippers. Liam the Conqueror, however, wanted nothing to do with the clippers. I wanted to take it a little shorter around his ears, but I missed it and a little spot at his neckline, because he was moving around so much. He really wanted off of my lap. He cried at me a little bit, until I brought out the brush and started brushing his hair. Oh, how he loves that. One of his favorite things in the world is when he lays his head in my lap, and I stroke his hair and massage his scalp.

All in all, there are a few bits that could be straightened up a little bit, but for the most part, I am  happy and content with the experience. We can go another two or three months without haircuts, just so long as I keep the hair trimmed out of their eyes. Eventually, they won't mind so much, and I wont have to rush so quickly. I really do enjoy cutting hair. I found a hairstyle that Sissy likes, and it is so soft and pretty as she grows out her hair. I realized quickly that I had to cut her hair myself, because the salon stylists cut too much off her hair, every time. Now, I get to take care of the boys, too. I like it. It makes me happy. My husband doesn't like me to cut his hair. I think that he enjoys the whole experience, and would rather go down to the Barber Shop for it. We really can't afford to do that for all of us though. My ego is soothed whenever I go to visit my grandparents, however, because my Papa has had me cut his hair while I was down there. Grandma's poor hands aren't able to comfortably use the scissors anymore, so she tolerates me cleaning him up a little bit. Since Papa is a little picky about his hair, it makes me feel good when I get it just right, and he is happy.

I know that it would probably be easier to cut the boys' hair by just cropping it all short, but I enjoy their locks so much that that would make me sad. The boys love to run across the room and snuggle against my leg, or bury their faces in my skirt, so I will stroke their hair. I like to play with their little curls and comb them, so we keep them in the "standard" boys' haircut. It also helps other people to know that they are boys. I spent some time in the surgical waiting room yesterday, and it took me a good 15 minutes to determine that the little child playing near me was a boy. His clothes were rather neutral, and he had long curly hair. Normally, that is no big deal. However, sometimes I would like to talk to a parent or a child, and not accidentally refer to them as the wrong gender. Parents can get rather easily offended if you guess wrong! lol