The other night, I ventured out to meet the book club girls at a local restaurant. I hadn’t finished either of the books. July’s was The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan which I had previousl read and was in the midst of re-reading. June’s selection was Nicholas Sparks’s Dear John, which I purchased though I have no intention of reading it. It’d been a long few days (yes, all summer days are getting to be that way) and I wanted to go out, be silly and just take a break from life.
We talked about the books for roughly three and a half minutes before moving on to talking about regular life stuff – friendships, movies, work and the oh-so-important “which teacher did you request for your child for the fall”. Y’know, the normal stuff. Over copious amounts of oh-so-bad for you appetizers (cheese fries, anyone?), we gabbed for two hours and by the time I left to dash home (it was Project Runway night, after all!), I was refreshed.
I arrived home relieved from the time out, and so I ventured upstairs to kiss my daughters goodnight. When I peeked in at Pumpkin, I noticed something was a little different.
“Hey, Pumpkin… Who cut your hair?”
“The ‘usual person’,” she replied – implying my sister and YES, actually using air quotes.
“Um, she gave you bangs?”
She wouldn’t have done that! I thought to myself. There’s no way my sister would have given my kid bangs without calling me or texting me to see if it was okay.
“PRINCESS!” I called. My older daughter came in. “What do you know about your sister’s hair?” By then, Pumpkin had huddled under a blanket, refusing to speak.
The Princess knew nothing about it. Hubby knew nothing about it. As I began to sift through her hair, I realized… This was definitely NOT a professional cut. This was definitely the handiwork of a freshly-minted five year old who stole her big sister’s scissors.
Sigh.
There’s never a dull moment in our house. I had always jokingly said, “If one of my daughters is going to cut her hair, it will be Pumpkin.” She is a creative, free-spirited spit fire and so I am not at all surprised by this. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t thrilled either.
I called my sister for an emergency hair summit and she was able to cut Pumpkin’s hair into a cute bob. The bangs were actually well-cut, considering they were at the hand’s of a five year old, and brushed just beyond eyebrow length. They barely needed to be touched up. There’s a small patch underneath that has been cut to about an inch in length, but… it doesn’t show, and we left it alone. As it grows, we’ll continue to even things out.
It’s easier to care for now – a happy side effect – and it’s made for interesting conversation fodder. I think all my friends at some point cut their own hair when they were children. Most did a far more brutal job than Pumpkin did.
It’s only hair. Life goes on.
But I’ve temporarily suspended her scissors privileges.
**Of COURSE those are affiliate links, silly!
heehee. it will grow back 🙂