But there was drama!
It's taken me a while to write about this - partly because my life is extra-busy right now - but also because it was soooooo traumatic ):
Mid-morning on Dec 31, the yarn twists were almost complete. There was just one small patch left to twist - right at the top of her head - maybe 4-5 twists' worth. We had been watching Shrek for the billionth time, and a good song came on. JJ asked to have a break to get up and dance, and I agreed. I let her dance, and I took a break to make a phone call and finalize our party plans.
I was vaguely aware of JJ checking her hair in the mirror, and was also vaguely aware of her saying something about how she didn't like the look of the puff of untwisted hair at the top of her head.
I was vaguely aware of JJ checking her hair in the mirror, and was also vaguely aware of her saying something about how she didn't like the look of the puff of untwisted hair at the top of her head.
After a few minutes, I was off the phone and JJ was back in her "hair chair". I went to add in some yarn to one of the final twists and my heart skipped a beat. I had in my hands a section of short hair, it was only about an inch or two long!? I immediately thought "Yikes! Major breakage!" and I sat for a minute, trying to figure out how this could have happened. Her hair had been in small twists for all of December...a PROTECTIVE style - how could such a large section break off?
I hadn't even processed my next idea in my head when I asked out loud..."Did you cut your hair?". JJ smiled at me. She looked almost proud of herself (??!!!) and said "Yes!". She looked over at the scissors I'd been using to cut the yarn, and back at me again, still smiling....
In the few minutes that I had been on the phone, and with little brother, big brother and Daddy D all in the room, JJ had somehow managed to cut off the last bit of hair that was to be twisted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was in complete shock. I asked "Where's the hair??" and JJ pointed to the kitchen floor. Yup, that was her hair. A fair amount of it, too. EEEEK!!!!
Channeling as much of Daddy D's "go with the flow" attitude as I could muster - and thanks to some much-needed words of wisdom and support from awesome facebook/blogger friends - I pulled myself together and finished the style. I was actually very "lucky" that I was in the middle of yarn twists! I was able to re-do some parts so that most twists had at least some long hair left in them. In the end, there were 2 or 3 twists that were mostly yarn. In the photo below you can see a more-yarn-than-hair twist. The circle shows where JJ's hair ended, and I matched the length to her non-cut hair. Yeah, that was a lot of length...GONE.
BUT...No one even noticed! And we had a great New Year's Eve.
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| JJ and Uncle E - Cheers! |
JJ is definitely not the only child to have cut her own hair. I know I've seen and heard other stories out there. Anisa from Braid With Me cut her hair twice! You can read more about Anisa's accidental hair cut here at Beads, Braids and Beyond.
How about you? Did you - or your child - ever cut your/their own hair? Please share - I love stories!!!
Awww, Reading this rehashed a traumatic experience that we had this past summer. I am glad you found a way to hide it and that it is hair that grows back. Yay for breathing and going with the flow. JJ looks beautiful with her twists.
ReplyDeleteYou handled it very well, I have no clue how I would of reacted!! Kids+Scissors...WHYYYY are they so drawn to them!! But keep her hair in those protective styles and it will grow right back.
ReplyDeleteOh no :( I'm glad you were able to cover it up for the time being. I don't think I or my sister ever cut our own hair, but she shaved off both of her eyebrows when she was three! Eek!!
ReplyDeletei would have passed out had i see that!! at least you handled it great and her hair still looks awesome!
ReplyDelete@ Michelle - thanks! and thanks to you and Des for your sympathy when it happened!
ReplyDelete@ Kandy - I know, right? I know as a kid I cut ALL of my dolls' hair, but never my own! And unlike my poor dolls, JJ's hair will grow back!
@ Precious - eyebrows????!!!? eeeek is right! yikes! I will be sure to keep the razors far, far away from JJ - I can just see her doing something like that...!
@ Shay - I really and truly almost did pass out. I was so shocked!! JJ likes her hair to be styled in a way that it's "long" - like in braids or twists as opposed to her loose (and "shrinky") hair. So I never would have imagined that she would use those scissors on her own hair. Sigh. Kids. They do like to explore....
Wow she cut a lot off, good thing you were able to hide it so well :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is a good thing you were doing yarn twists! D has never cut her own hair but she has taken the scissor to her Fur Real dog...smh.
ReplyDelete@ Diva Locks - yeah it was a lot ): But it did hide well (: Thanks!!
ReplyDelete@ UHM - those yarn twists did end up well-timed. And poor little Fur Real doggie!
Whoa--that's a good chunk of hair! You handled it really well, I think I would have just cried right there and then finished the style. Baby O has never cut her own hair, but I also hid all the scissors in the house once I caught on that they were using them at daycare to cut shapes out of paper. My oldest son cut a huge chunk of his hair when he was five, right along the front hairline. There was nothing I could do, short of shaving all his hair off. So I decided to let it go, let his hair have a huge chunk missing and let him explain what happened when he was asked what was wrong with his hair. He never did it again...and when it grew back I got his hair shaved into a mohawk lol
ReplyDeleteAwww N, thanks for sharing your story about Big J. That's a great one - what a perfect natural consequence; him having to explain!! And hopefully Baby O continues to stay away from the scissors.
ReplyDeleteGeez, kids are obsessed with scissors! I find myself re-hiding them all the time! You did a great job "going with the flow." :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tav - yeah, I've been hiding scissors too, especially since "the incident". A couple of times I've hid them too well though, and then gone crazy trying to find them...
ReplyDeleteI would have cried especialy with all the hard wrk we put in to keep it healthy and make it grow. When you said JJ was smiling at you proud it put a smile on my face because thats the thing my daughter does when she does something wrong and thinks she has done something right. When I have given her activities to do like cutting and sticking with safety scissors I went out the room for a moment and when I came back she was holding a piece of hair in the middle of her safety scissors and she was rubbing the scissors up and down but they were open. I was lucky coz she was just getting the hang of using them so she couldnt cut properly at that angle and if she could Im just hoping they wouldnt of been sharp enough to cut her hair.
ReplyDeleteHi Dimitra (ggmix)!! It is amazing what children will get into in such a short time! I'm glad your daughter did not cut any hair. I think JJ was proud of herself because she had done such a big girl thing so successfully. She likes to show me she is grown up (: which is wonderful, just sometimes her idea of what is a good, gown-up thing to do is different from mine!
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