My Baby’s First Haircut — Why I’m Still Crying

Today, this:

became this:

Ahhhhh!!!

I finally gave in — it was time for Landon’s first haircut. After not being able to make up my mind about cutting off his beautiful little curls for the longest time, I had thought of making that trip to the hair salon in recent weeks. And when I received a half-off coupon in the mail from Snip-its, the kid’s place I wanted to take him to anyway because I wanted him to have a special, positive experience the first time, my frugal self took that as a sign.

It worked out great; Don was off work today and needed a trim as well, so we first went to a barber shop. I wanted L to see Daddy get his hair cut so he could see for himself that it is not a scary proposition. L did walk in there with much trepidation, thinking a hair salon is like a doctor’s office. But I sat him in the kid’s chair they had and he watched Daddy get his buzz cut. Can you tell he was a little uneasy?

Daddy was very brave.

Then we drove to Snip-it’s. It’s a fun place with colorful decoration, and the kids get to watch TV, blow bubbles, or play with toys — anything to distract them. While L was talking all exited about going to get his own haircut on the way there, when it was time to sit down, he lost it for a moment. He started to cry and wanted to get off the chair. But I just hugged him and he buried himself in my chest, which actually worked out great for the hair stylist. She started cutting, and after a minute L realized that it didn’t hurt and relaxed. He didn’t like it, but he was okay.

I love this picture, doesn’t this say it all?

He played with a few toys and before we knew it, his curls where gone.

He got a toy fishy…

…and I left with a cute certificate and a little bag of his hair. When I read the certificate, that L “met all the requirements of a first haircut with courage and bravery” I started to tear up. Don just rolled his eyes at me, but I can’t help it — this is another huge milestone for him and me! He just started preschool, his best friend moved away, and he got his first haircut! That hair had been growing for over two years!

We went for lunch at Panera Bread, and I thought I was fine. Landon looks really cute with his new do, but later on it really bothered me that I didn’t ask for his one long curl to be cut off separately so I can hold on to it. Instead, all his cut hair got shoved into a tiny plastic bag and attached to the certificate. I bothered me so much that I later took out all the hair and tried to find that one long curl. It didn’t get cut off so it is still as long as it was, but I did get a piece and put a rubber band around it so the hair stays together. I’m still kind of upset, actually, L will probably never have such long hair again and someone told me that it might never grow back curly, but what is done is done. Guess this is one of those tough lessons you learn about being a mom: your kids grow up so fast and you might realize that you want to hold on to something only after it is gone.

I can’t believe I am crying again over this! Why is this tougher than sending him to preschool? You know what it is? I mentally prepared myself right along with him for preschool, I really put a lot of thought and effort into making that transition as easy as possible for him, and although I also put some thought into preparing him for his first haircut, I didn’t prepare myself for it. That curl is gone forever! Anyone have a tissue for me?

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Tagged as: cutting baby's first curl, first boy haircut, first haircut for little boy