Archer and Tanion's New Hair

Today has been a day
full of hair cuts.

Now, if it were me and someone said that, I would think that would mean that the family all had their hair cut. Nope. Just Archer and DarTanion. But see, with Archer I have discovered that a hair cut comes in stages. Don't believe me? Read this post from last July. Or this one from September of the year before.

This morning while eating breakfast, Archer informed me that his hair was getting too long and that he needed a hair cut. He even said that he would be 'brave and big' if I would take him to get it cut. I told him we would see and didn't really give it another thought.

Then around 11am, I went to do my hair in the bathroom and the door was locked. I knocked and it took Archer a few minutes to open it. That is normal for Archer. The kid likes to play in my cupboards or he'll take his trains in there so that he doesn't have to 'share with Sissy'... When I walked in, he looked guilty and I noticed chunks of hair on the counter and the floor. I asked him if he had been cutting his hair and he said NO. I asked him to tell the truth and he flashed his cute little devilish grin and said YEAH... Then he pulls out some scissors from the bathroom cupboard.

So, the kids and I got ready and went to Great Clips. On the way there, DarTanion said he wanted his hair cut too - which was a surprise since he's decided that he wants "hair as long as Dad's was". No problem. Two hair cuts in one day. We have a little money in the bank account still, I can do that.

When we got there, there was one stylist open. DarTanion wanted to go first. No problem. The stylist asked what we were doing and I said it was his choice. Of course, he said a MOHAWK. A long one... I told her probably a faux hawk instead (shorter, doesn't have to be a mohawk). It turned out pretty cute... Here is his before and afters....

BEFORE (last night)

AFTER (faux hawk)

Now, remember how it was Archer's IDEA to get a hair cut? Yeah - the kid fought me for like 5 minutes while I struggled to keep Robynson out of everyone else's hair or cutting station. Finally he agreed and was fine. He sat in the chair and had no problem.

ARCHER BEFORE

The girl who cut his hair asked him what he wanted and he said 'my hair cut'. I asked him if he wanted hair like Tanion's? Or Spikey? Or Shark Hair? Or just really short? Or if he wanted it all off? And my Archer, being the little guy that he is, said that he just wanted it cut. The girl cut it pretty short and Archer told her shorter. So she did it a little shorter and he said that he wanted it longer (yeah - how are we gonna do that one!) She offered to put some gel in it to make it stand up or be spikey and he said NO! Eventually, it ended up like this.

Cute, short and can be done with gel and made cute and spikey. No problem! And he said that he liked it. But I should have known better...

We had friends over tonight. We played outside until it was time for dinner. I went inside to pull dinner out of the oven and Archer came inside, too. He started playing with trains. No big deal, happens all the time. So I go outside, help put the bikes away and herd the children (mine and the Bagley kids) downstairs. Archer was inside by himself MAYBE 5 minutes at the most. By the time I came in, I found Archer in the kitchen with the scissors, cutting the middle of his hair off. As in, take the scissors, put them down the middle of your head - RIGHT NEXT TO THE SCALP - and cut. At least 3 times so that it's really noticeable and mom can't fix it.

I handled it well (though I forgot to take pictures). I told him that I was going to have to shave his head and that I was sad that I had spent money on a hair cut that didn't even last a day. I went into the bathroom and got out Jeremiah's electric beard trimmer and started trimming away the top with hopes that I could salvage SOME hair on his head.

Unfortunately, the electric trimmer hadn't been charged and wasn't holding a charge longer than about 5 - 15 seconds at a time. After about an hour of trying to cut his hair and getting too close in some spots, I gave up. While the trimmer charged for about 15-25 minutes, I grabbed the scissors and started cutting. I cut as much of the hair off (and as close to his scalp) as possible. I was able to use the trimmer in some of the spaces but most of it, I was on my own. Then I took him into the bathroom, lathered his head in shaving cream and shaved his head.

So after 2 brand new razor blades and one that had been used twice, I have a bald child. With a big (cone shaped) head. Who cried because he didn't look like himself. And asked if I would glue his hair back on.

**Sigh**

Oh well, hair grows back.

I reassured him that he still looks like Archer to me (even though when Jeremiah got home from my sister's house, he had to do a double take - and I had already told him what I had to do!), that we still love him, that his hair WILL grow back and that he still looks 'AWESOME'. :)

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(By the way: Thanks Heather, for watching all the kids while I was preoccupied with this little project for most of the night and for reminding me - it could be worse. It could've been Robyn's hair!!)