Hairdresser in Training

At some point in time I think every kid gets a little too curious about the scissors.  More specifically what the scissors can do to their hair,  or somebody else's.  I know I was guilty of this.  My parents like to tell the story of how I cut my hair when I was about five, I guess.  I can actually remember doing it too, clear as day.  I was standing on the stool in front of my dresser. I cut a big chunk out of my bangs and watched as it fell into the trashcan beside me.  My mom caught me and when asked why I did it, I said I wanted my hair to be "fethahd".  Farrah Fawcett's hairdo even had an impact on us 5 year olds.  Last year Sonya had a new pair of kid friendly scissors and within a day of having them she took a chunk out of her own bangs.  Two days before picture day at school.  It was barely noticeable, to be honest.  She was punished by having the scissors taken away for a bit, but I suppose it wasn't lesson enough, or she just forgot about it.  Either way, today she decided it was time to try her hand at cutting hair, yet again.

All three of the girls were in the backyard playing this afternoon and I was inside cleaning up the kitchen.  (You can assume that at any point in the day I'm cleaning up in the kitchen.)  I checked outside to see what they were up to and noticed Sonya walking around with her kid friendly scissors.  When I asked what she was doing, she brought a mushroom that had grown in the grass and informed me that she cut it out of the lawn.  She said she knew it was poisonous and didn't want Georgia eating it.  I was impressed by her forethought, thanked her and threw the mushroom away.  I didn't even think twice about the fact that she still had the scissors in her hand.  What could my daughter, who is obviously mature beyond her years, do bad with scissors?  

About five minutes later I went outside to push Georgia in her swing when I noticed Sonya still walking around with the scissors.  They seemed to have become more of toy at this point, so I told her to go put them away and she did, I think.  

Fast forward to dinner time.   Sonya was talking to me about something I was half paying attention to.  All of a sudden  I looked at her and noticed something was off.  Then I looked at her bangs and knew.  

"Sonya, what did you do to your bangs?" I asked.  She was caught completely off guard and tried to take the, "I have no idea what you're talking about" approach.  

"What?" She said.  

"You cut your bangs?!" I slightly yelled.

"No," she tried.  Then seeing the expression on my face changed her answer reluctantly to, "yes".  

I asked her the only question on my mind, "why?"

"Because I don't want my hair long," she stated.

I asked if she wanted to go and get it cut short, and she told me no.  

"I wanted my bangs to be like yours," she said pointing to my hair.  I don't have bangs.  Well, not like hers.  They're long and layered with the rest of my hair. 

"Well cutting them isn't going to make them longer, Sonya!!" I told her.  

About this time, Andy called from work and I told him what had happened.  He laughed and told me not to be mad at her, and I had started to soften, realizing how funny she looked.  I took a picture to send to him.  She was upset for a minute because she thought I was mad.  I assured her I wasn't, but she still shouldn't cut her hair and there would be no scissors for a week.  She calmed down and brightened up when she realized I wasn't angry.  But wait, there's more!!

Once she felt like she was off the hook, she told me how she cut a little piece of her pigtail too.  I found myself getting a bit upset again, but calmed down and looked at it.  I couldn't even tell where she did it, thank goodness.  Then it dawned on me.

"Did you cut your sister's hair?"  I asked looking to see if Lana had any chunks missing.  

"Yeah!" She proudly replied, and Lana nodded her head in excitement.  She got a haircut too!!

"WHERE?!" I demanded to know.

Lana pointed to the side of her head and said, "White heya."

"I cut off one of her curls," Sonya offered.  Luckily, Lana has that kind of unruly, curly kid hair and I couldn't notice at all.  Then I looked at Georgia who, poor thing, is still trying to grow her hair.  

"What about G?" I asked.

"Yup," she said, "right there," and pointed to the right side of Georgia's hair.  There was a small patch missing, but also barely noticeable.  Sonya was the only one who's new do was apparent.  Still, this required more punishment, so the scissors are off limits now for two weeks.  Then I asked where the hair was and she told me by the swing set.  I went and retrieved what I could find.  (See pictures below)  When I told her about her punishment she told me, 

"That's okay."  

"It is?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can still watch TV and stuff right?" she inquired.  This made me stop and think for a minute that maybe this WOULDN'T teach her a lesson and perhaps I should take away the TV.  However, I already gave out the punishment so I couldn't go back on it now.  Plus seeing her bangs and how she would have to go to school for the next few weeks would be punishment enough, I was pretty sure.  But just for good measure I added, 

"Yes you can still watch TV, but if you ever do this again you will not get TV for a week, do you understand?"  She nodded her head.  

I really don't think SHE will do this again, but I do have two more girls yet to wield scissors.  I'll just have to make sure they always have the hair styles they want so they don't try and make it happen themselves.  Otherwise I might end up with this again, or perhaps worse.

Sonya's lovely new cut.

The "chunks" of hair found in the backyard.

Sonya's is on the Left, Lana on the right.