Snip, Snip Snip, Snip, Snip......

There are plenty of things that I choose to spend my money on quite freely...oh yes, I know how to whip that wallet out. But, on the other hand, there certainly are things that I can be quite stingy about. Case in point: haircuts for my boys. Now, I fully admit that I do not do a great job cutting their hair. I have no training, I don't have a really good sense of what's the latest in little boy haircuts and even if I did I really doubt that I could recreate it, and I certainly don't feel qualified to wear a holster and use scissors in both hands (that is a story all in itself for another day). So although I might not do a good job, I don't really want to spend any money having someone else cut their hair. It just seems like I should be able to take of that on my own. I know, you've seen their hair and wonder what on earth makes me feel that I am sane, but regardless of my mental state, this is my feeling, or it was until the last time I tried to cut Luke's hair when he screamed and cried and yanked the scissors out my hand and I think the neighbors might have been on the verge of calling CPS because his tantrum might make one think that I was prying his toenails off one by one.

So I took Luke and Mitch to see the professionals...and I believe I may never do that again.

Luke was first. Now, I kind of like his hair a little long and shaggy on the top, so my instructions to the stylist went something like this:

I'm afraid that if I try to give him a little trim again I might cut his ear off as he grabbing the scissors from my hand, so I'll hold his hands and you just even things up a bit and trim his hair around the ears.

So she proceeds to clip and snip....and it is possibly the worst haircut in the history of haircuts on Luke's head. I understand, he was crying, but he was also sitting nearly stone still because he seemed to scared out of his mind. I think he was afraid that she was going to cut his ear off. Meanwhile, the other stylist in the shop had time and thought she'd take on Mitchell's cut. So in the midst of dealing with screaming baby I turned to this woman and said precisely this:

He just needs to be trimmed up a bit on the back and sides and he likes the front a little bit short so he put gel in it to make it a little spikey.

For maybe 30 seconds I returned my attention to Luke...and then I turned back to Mitchell, who now had no hair. Well, that is a slight exaggeration. His hair was buzzed except for a little tiny bit on the top that she was clipping shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter.....

I thought I was going to throw up. And then I looked at Mitchell; he was smiling. She finished up by creating some sort of fauxhawk and smiled at me, I guess, to indicate that this was a really cool haircut. I just wanted to grab her clippers (maybe shave her head) and scream: WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HANDSOME LITTLE BOY?!!!!

So, even though I wanted to run screaming out of there, I left a tip. And on the way home Mitchell said, " this is great, Mom; its so short we won't have to go back for a long time! I love it!"

Yes, Mitchell, you're right, your hair will reach your ankles before I step foot back there. So its back to Mom's bathroom when you need your next haircut in four months and you may not love it quite as much but oh well, it will be free and I'll bet you might have a little more hair on your head when I'm done.

So instead of leaving you with a picture of the boys, tonight I'll leave you with the mental image of our very great day at the "salon."

But I couldn't finish this post without sending Aaron Walker a big thanks for buzzing his head and making Mitchell think that he is super-duper cool now. Thanks, Aaron, what would we do without you?! But why didn't you make it a little uneven? Then Luke would fit in, too.