Snip, Snip

Amy cut her hair yesterday.

Note that I did not say, "Amy HAD her hair cut yesterday". I said "AMY cut her hair yesterday".

I know many young children take scissors to their hair (I did so myself, as a youngster), but I somehow thought that my children were immune to this behavior. I always assumed that my children were far too intelligent to actually CUT THEIR OWN HAIR. Whenever I heard stories about children's "hair-cuts", I thanked the Lord that my kids would never attempt such a thing. I have also often wondered about the lack of supervision in such instances...where in the world were the PARENTS while the child was hacking away with the scissors?!

Yesterday, I discovered that quite a bit of hair can be removed from a small child's head in just a few minutes time. As I sat in the family room feeding Brian yesterday afternoon, Amy watched a movie in the living room. Suddenly, I heard a funny noise. (In hindsight, it was a "snipping" noise). I called out and asked her what she was doing.

"Nothing!" came the reply.

Again I heard the noise. Again I asked for an explanation, and received the same answer.

After a few more "snips", I finally ventured into the living room to uncover the cause of the noises. I stopped in shock when I saw the ENTIRE rug around Amy covered in long, blond curls.

And there sat Amy, the scissors frozen mid-snip, staring at me with a terribly guilty expression on her face.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, so I wordlessly removed the scissors from Amy's hand and walked quietly out of the room. This apparently frightened Amy much more than screams of horror would have, and she burst into hysterical sobs.

"I didn't know that would happen! I didn't know all that hair would come off!!", she screamed. (I wonder just what she DID think would happen?!) I remained quiet, and headed upstairs to change Brian's diaper. Amy ran behind me, as behind her fell clumps of hair large enough to make an entire wig.

After Brian's diaper change, I sat down with Amy to survey the damage. She cut the entire front portion of her hair right up to her scalp. At this point, if I pull it into a ponytail, it's hard to notice too much, but once it starts to grow in it will make a giant, puffy brillo-pad on her forehead. The back of her head is a disaster, with bald patches throughout. Fortunately for her, she had a huge head of curls, so when it's pulled into a ponytail, we can cover the open patches.

I continued to fume throughout the afternoon, but while I was making dinner, Amy came to me with a fistful of hair that she had just found next to the couch.

"Mommy", she said in a quavering voice. "I thought that maybe you could keep this hair, and then whenever you start to miss my blond curls, you can look at this and remember how I used to look".

Her lip was trembling, and her eyes were swollen and red. I took the handful of hair, thanked her, and gathered her up into a big hug. Worse things can happen than an amateur haircut, and I don't think Amy will ever attempt such a thing again. After she went to bed, I put the curls into a plastic bag, and put them into my memory box.

She's right about one thing. Someday I will look at those curls and remember just how she used to look.

I love that little girl. Bald patches and all.