My Daughter BUTCHERED her hair

My DD5 hacked her hair around the sides not too long ago. She has a bob, so it's not too bad, so I left it rather than spend $$ to have it straightened out. But sometimes you have no choice but to resort to the hairdresser. I think every kid has done this at least once in their life. My DD5 has done it *more* than once! I sure can understand how it makes you mad!

I say a fitting punishment would be to let her stew in this haircut for a few weeks. That way she will learn a lesson and you will have time to save up a few bucks for a trip to the "hair shop". I know it's frustrating, kids have such beautiful hair! But it's a girl thing. I totally cut my own hair when I was 12 and my parents were at the grocery store. Needless to say, it was awful!

Hang in there, sister.

Josie cut her hair and her sister's hair last year. Lou's was so badly butchered we had to give her an intentionally asymmetrical haircut (very Carnaby Street ca 1966) to keep her from looking like a boy; if we had evened it out she would have looked like a Louis, not a Louisa. The good thing about hair is, it grows.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

guess I can add my story

I was a retired hairdresser and was suppose to cut my DD4 hair for a picture taking....well I wasn't fast enough and so when I was at work[night time] my DD cut her own hair,,,DH in the basement

I come home to a crying kid ,,,not the one who cut her hair but the sister who was afraid I be sooooo mad..yep I was

the only thing you can think is

it will grow it will grow it will grow

sending good vibes.............most of us have been there,,,it will be OK

picture taking was canceled

tommorow to the beauty shop near my mother in laws business to see what repairs can be made.Im just not going to be able to hold my head up to see the dismay of the hair dresser I hope she is inventive and in a I can fix this mood.

Ps Im getting a great discount since MIL is her landlord so this helps the money part at least.

It won't be the first bad self-haircut the hairdresser has seen, and it certainly won't be the last. I think it's a rite of passage for children and their parents to mangle the hair at least once.
Soon you will look back on this event and laugh. I promise.
Rose

When I was 5 years old, I snuck the scissors and cut both sides of my hair and cut my eyelashes off (how dangerous was that?!). Good news was that my eyelashes grew back thick and long (and stayed that way until I started using mascara as a teenager). I wouldn't recommend trying it, however...

seems to be only the girls though doesn't it?? For once the boys are actually smarter than us! I didn't do it to myself, as far as I remember, but my DD did. About the same age too. Only one side though and I let her stew and didn't get it cut for a couple of weeks.

Speaking of the guys not doing it... my dad tried to 'trim' his wet fringe just before an early job interview, and you know how that goes... he kept trying to straighten it and before he knew where he was it was REALLY short. And then it dried! All he had left were tufts where his fringe used to be, and an interview to go to.

Scissors are seriously dangerous weapons in the wrong hands. And my kids' teachers keep asking me to get them to practice - I hardly let my DD& near scissors, let alone my supremely dangerous DS5!

Sympathy Jenn. Don't be mad at yourself because she would have found a way, no matter what. Be angry at her, but try not to let it get out of proportion. My DD has found plenty of other things to annoy me with since then, and cutting hair is not even close to the worst!

Kerri.

Apparently this isn't unique to girls - read this and see if you don't feel better, even amused a little...

http://www.comfortqueen.com/results.html?,710

And if that article doesn't help, go browse the rest of the site - I especially recommend the 'search by feeling' section!

Kerri.

I just recieved a phonecall from my mother saying that my 4 year old daughter is crying because she cut her own hair. I'm thinking to myself, ok, maybe its not so bad so I tell them to send a picture to my email. Her hair is butchered!!! Her bangs are cut all the way across down to the scalp and there is a huge chunk missing from the side of her head. It has taken her 4 years to get hair down to her shoulders and now I am gonna have to cut it atleast to her ears all the way around!!! My mother tells me that I am over reacting but I dont think I am. I dont see how this can be fixed by any hairdresser and it will take forever to grow back. I am scared that she will go to preschool and all of the kids will make fun of her about it and she gets upset so easily.

It's just hair. Your reaction is going to affect her reaction. If she gets upset, remind her that she cut her hair and maybe next time if she decides to do that she'll remember how she feels right now. Both of my girls have cut their hair, pretty badly. It all worked out okay. Hair grows back. Just repeat to yourself--HAIR GROWS BACK. Good luck!

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Man, is this ever familiar! Yes, even hairdressers kids do this! BOTH my kids, when they were little, cut their own hair with kid scissors. And NO I couldn't fix it even being a hairdresser!!!!! Sometimes these things aren't fixable, BUT like Lynn said its hair and it will grow back. And when your kids are teenagers like mine, you will laugh your butt off about it, even though its not funny now :/
If it makes you feel any better, my DD18 went to the nail salon the other day and had her eyebrows waxed with her friends, now mind you, I do this to her for free, and I have a wax machine here at home. Well we gotta be like our friends right? NOW she has like one thin line of eyebrows and looks like hell. Well well well aren't we intellegent??? I just shook my head and laughed. Then read her the riot act, nail techs aren't licensed to do wax, thats what takes food off our table I told her

But it could be worse, I once had a little boy come in the salon that got hold of his dad's electric razor and shaved OFF the back of his hair. ACK!

Hang in there!
Marlene

Mad now, but take pictures, you'll have a laugh later!! Ok, granted, it hasn't happened to me (yet. but my daughters are now 6 and 8 and HOPEFULLY have outgrown this stage!). But I think I would take pictures, since I'm a scrapbooker anyway (or at least I claim to be). Always take pictures, you can blackmail them later. HAHAHA!!!!

And FWIW. Country singer Tim McGraw went to get a haircut one day and took a daughter or two with him. They asked for a buzz cut like daddy, and so he did. Don't you know his wife Faith Hill was PISSED!!! I'm sure it grew back, though.

Down to the scalp. My mother had me get a pixie cut. With VERY fine, thin blonde hair it was not a cute pixie but it worked. I am sure I was made fun of but honestly I DO NOT REMEMBER! But I do remember I never cut my hair again!

Jana

Haha I can understand why you are mad but I must say I did a similar thing as a child only not to my own hair. I took those same scissors and cut one of my girl friend's bangs!! Hahah needless to say her mom wasn't so happy either...don't worry years from now you will look back and laugh and in the meantime - just remember she is 4 =)
*~* GLITTERY.HOMEMAKER *~*

I've been reading this column this evening because my 4 yr. old granddaughter cut her hair off this morning while her mother was doting over the 2 year old. What are YOU PEOPLE MISSING HERE? I'll tell you... NOT ONE of you EVER once mentioned how these children could have been harmed! While all of you are off doing whatever you think is so important at the moment, instead of your child cutting her hair with the scissors..... THEY COULD HAVE FALLEN ON THE SCISSORS.....OR, they could have gone outside and the outcome could have been disastrous, if not fatal, since they were obviously unattended! STOP people and think about this...... Hair will grow back, but you all need to step back and remember that 4 year olds need ADULT SUPERVISION. Don't let scissors down where kids can get them. Remember that you have MORE than one child (for those of you that do)....and for God's sake act like an adult.

I swear it must be "generational"..... excuses, excuses and more excuses. Yes.... "stuff does happen"..... but the common factor I've read in these postings is always the same.. EXCUSES. Own up to it people...YOU screwed up... NOT your child. But the child is the one that's getting all the repercussions here....yelled at....self esteem being obliterated, made fun of by others, INCLUDING MORE IMMATURE ADULTS....etc. etc. etc. All the while... these things could have been prevented by YOU.... the parents, the adults... the ones who are supposed to be RESPONSIBLE. A child of 3-4 years old should NOT have the OPPORTUNITY to do this. A child of 10-12, is quite another story. No... don't wrap them up in a cocoon to protect them, but the parents have to at some point accept the responsibility of these YOUNGGGGGGG kids. ANy time something goes wrong, or something happens to a kid, the parents instantly try to focus the blame somewhere where it doesn't belong. Like I said it's generational...you're never wrong... YOU didn't leave the scissors down and available to small hands....YOU weren't doing something else that could have waited.... YOU were engrossed in your current more important activity while thinking...."THEY'RE OK".... I'll get there in a minute. OWN UP TO YOUR MISTAKE and stop blaming it on the child. And... whoever it was that posted something about " a fitting punishment"...yes, you're right. BUT the punishment should be for the ADULT and this person should be required to take parenting classes. PUNISHMENT should be levied on the ones responsible....which is not a 4 year old CHILD. GET REAL parents... stop putting the blame on the children....YOU are the adults, YOU are the PARENTS, YOU are the ones responsible for THEIR CARE!

It only takes ONE SECOND for that child to be GONE.... INJURED... or DEAD! I know of one case where a mother thought.. "I'll lock the door in a second... and 2 minutes late the child was drowned in their family pool. I know of another case where a 3 yr old got scissors left down by a mother cutting coupons... and the child trying to please their mother came running to give the scissors to the Mommy yelling
" Here MOMMY.. for YOU"... and promptly fell on them and DIED later that day. Another where the child went OUT the door and was struck by a car while the parents were making dinner.... and another that fell out of a 2nd story window while left alone... etc. etc. etc. etc. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO WAKE YOU PEOPLE UP? READ THE NEWSPAPERS>> LISTEN TO THE NEWS>>> IT HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE DAY!

When you ADULTS look at your dear sweet "hairless" CHILDREN....please don't cry over the lost "beauty" as you perceive it.... Cry over the fact that it could have been worse, and wasn't ... ONLY by the grace of GOD.... certainly not by your vigilance as parents! Hug your child, tell them they're beautiful and thank God they lived through YOUR mistake, ............THIS TIME!

That's a lot of judgement toward total strangers packed into one message. Lynn, your subject line made me laugh out loud!

I always enjoy these hair-cutting threads, perhaps more so as I wait for my 4yos bizarre self-inflicted sideburn to grow back into normal hair -- it seems like months!

Anyway, it seems like only 8 years ago that I stopped being the brilliant, talented apple of my parents' eyes and suddenly became a highly suspect caretaker for their brilliant, talented, perfect grandchildren. Luckily I have also followed the path of many a child: for several years of my childhood, my parents seemed to get dumber and dumber, and yet sometime after I passed into adulthood they seemed to get much much smarter again -- phew!

BTW, since we're talking about safety, can I bring up Last Child in the Woods again? I couldn't get through the whole thing, but the "broken arm generation" phrase stuck with me. I worry much much less about minor injuries, remembering the stitches, fractured arms, and sprained ankles that were part of my personal "School of Hard Knocks."

Shaun
www.redseahomeschool.wordpress.com

Or your kid could cut her hair with a pair of nail clippers - not nail scissors - nail clippers like my almost 4 yo did. Of course, nail clippers are slow work so she only managed to mangle one portion of her head before I caught her. They are resourceful little buggers.

Oh Hannah just did this last week. I was using the bathroom. It took maybe three minutes. Then I went into the kitchen and wiped the counters down before bed. I notice than it's very quiet. All the girls are in Sarah's room. I hear though the door (evesdropping, a Mother's best friend) "Hannah you GOT to tell Mom". I call out that it's bedtime and everyone should come into the bathroom for teeth brushing. Out file the girls with Hannah dragging behind. Sarah catches my eye and says "Take a deep breath, Mom". LOL Hannah's head is hanging so low I'm surprised she hasn't tipped over. I really start to worry that something horrible has happened.

Then she looks up.

OMG To The Scalp. Big fat tears are running down her cheeks and I just gather her up and say "Oh Hannah it's going to be ok." She's just so upset and everyone's first reaction is " Oh My God Hannah what happened to your hair?" Listen people it's just hair.... it will grow. And she had a very good logical explanation. See she has this Barbie doll that when you crank the arm, the hair grows. And she cut her bangs and cranked her arm, just like Barbie. And when she looked up at me wanting an answer to why her hair didn't grow, I was the best Mom evah. I didn't laugh one bit.... until later when she'd left the room.

I suppose I could never use the bathroom, clean the kitchen, do laundry, read a book, watch TV and linger around all three of my children, splitting myself in thirds and really be "The Best Mom Evah" but I'd rather let my daughter cut her hair, *gasp* unsupervised and let her imagination run wild, and just be a regular real mom.

Marlin: I promised I'd never let anything happen to him.
Dory: Hmm. That's a funny thing to promise.
Marlin: What?
Dory: Well you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo.

So yeah Hannah cut her hair. What a grand adventure she must have had doing it.
Sweetpiv
I'm your mother, not your maid!!!!

The original poster stated that it was with kids scissors, aka safety scissors, that this was done with. NOT adult scissors. Yes, they are safety scissors, and some of them say on the package that it only cuts paper, NOT hair. But guess what? Somehow my child managed to cut hair with it. Not much, but some. She was 7. Which is a bit old to be in that stage of "I didn't know any better" when I know she did. She was just looking for a bit of attention and mad that I wouldn't let her cut her long locks of golden curls (she didn't cut much. I took her to the salon in town and managed to give her a long layered cut, thus keeping her hair fairly long. Unfortunatly, most of the curls are gone).

My point is, safety scissors can be the culprit, not just mama's sewing shears. And while safety scissors can cut hair, you aren't going to fall and stab/kill yourself with them any more than other items, like a pencil or something.

And if a child REALLY wants something, they will get it. We have a cousin who kept her scissors on TOP of the fridge. She went to change the diaper of the other child and came back to find her 3 year old had gotten on top of the counter to reach the fridge and had cut off a good portion of her hair. I suggested next time she lock her scissors in the gun cabinet. LOL! I suppose though that it was totally the fault of the mom for having more than one child to look after. She should wait til one is grown before having another one, because a mom can't watch more than one child at one time. [snort!!!]

I echo Lynn. That lady has some issues and probably is a troller. Just to get a rise out of us. Seen them before around here. Or else she has nothing better to do but read the horrible statistics of the news world and blame mothers that took an eye off their sleeping child in order to get some sleep theirselves.

I've been on the computer for 10 minutes. I should make sure that all 4 of my children are still alive and haven't choked on a piece of pulp in their orange juice.

My daughter just cut her own hair tonight! Her hair is(was) about to the middle of her back and now the left side is about middle ear! She's about to be three and she also got a hold of her brothers frisker's scissors and cut a perfect line across the side of her head. She'll just have to live with it though!

under my husbands supervision our four year old cut our three year olds hair tonight...each curl has been cut off along with her bangs GONE! Anyway reading all this has made me feel much better! Thank You

Be sure to take photos of your kid's self-inflicted "hairdo" (or.. "don't"... all about perspective..) !

When I was 4 1/2 and my brother was 6 we managed to get ahold of our mum's scissors. She kept 'em out of reach, but after some tip-toeing, maneuvering, and getting our step-stool from the bathroom (that we used to reach the sink to brush our teeth), we made off with our prize, and I proceeded to attempt to trim my own bangs. My big brother offered to help because I obviously couldn't see what I was doing, and I was only 4, so I put my trust, and mum's scissors, into his hands. I just old him to cut 'em good and short, that my bangs kept falling into my eyes and I couldn't see.

So.. only moments before Mommie Dearest realized we were being too quiet *not* to be up to something, my brother was able to cut a huge chunk out of my bangs. Pretty much up to the scalp. I didn't really care, but ohhh my mother certainly did. I'm pretty sure I defended my brother, and his, errr, hair styling techniques.

This lovely mess of course would just have to grow out. And, this of course had to happen on the week of School Picture Day. I was either in pre-K or Kindergarten, I don't recall... but regardless, we still have the school picture from that year. Me and my cute pink dress & pigtails... and a bald-ish patch in my bangs. Terrible photo, but we love it.

BUT MY MAIN POINT for posting... was this...
Take a picture. Yeah, it's annoying and your kid looks wacky but it happens to every child.
And it's those little things, and those little moments, even the ones that make you so mad right now, that you're gonna look back on and cherish most. Childhood and all the wonderfully silly & simple trials of that time end far too soon.

And unfortunately, so can life.

My big brother is dead now. He died 4yrs ago, serving in the US armed forces. He was 20.

My mum and I look back at old photographs, and it's those silly ones, like the one I've mentioned above, (or even just walking past the faded stain in the hallway from when he was little & running with his grape kool-aid [or some type of purple drink], instead of staying in the kitchen with it like he was supposed to)... it's those little things.. that make us smile the most now.

I don't have a hair cutting story (other than than my Mum had to cut a huge chunk of mine out because I stuck gum in it!) I wanted to say I am so sad to hear about your brother, Rizzo.

Sounds like you have great memories of him though, and that is a wonderful and precious thing.

Honey.

Feel about this. Know that I'm not even close to this stage yet, but I feel its just a stage that they will grow out eventually.

Thank you.

Jessica, Hippie Feminist, Trying to Go Organic, No Circ or Vaccinations Without learning, researching the issues 1st, Learning, Researching (All these will be used now and in Future as well)

Yes i'm not alone.... last night i found my daughter with her new haircut....a mullet yes a mullet it is so short on the top that a hairdresser would have 2 cut it like a boys haircut 2 even make it look right.... all i can say is at least she didnt cut her self.... i took a picture to show her when she is older... all you can do is laugh. her hair was sooo long and beutiful now she looks like she's on her way to a monster truck ralley

My DD4 just cut off about 3" of my DD2 hair. I am so sad.( She had such beautiful hair, down to shoulders already. She also hacked my plants in my sunroom to death. Is this just a preschooler craze?

As to the crazy mad g'mother poster, you're right - I didn't have an eye on them. And I don't 100% of the time. Who does?!? I was cleaning the kitchen and heard them playing in their room (or so I thought). How in the world could a person be with their kids every single minute of every single day?

Hah, my DD12 did this the other day.

From pretty shoulder-length brown hair to a bob. It looks nice.

When my hubby got home I decided it was time to give out 17month old son his 1st haircut... we gave him a mohawk totally cool! Well when we went out of the bathroom to look at it out older daughters 5 and 4 decided they needed a haircut also. My 5 year old cut her bangs (for the second time) midway, it didnt look bad and her hair never grows so it didnt bother me. BUT my 4 year old who has (HAD) LONG silky perfect blonde hair cut it to right below her ears. My hubby found them and called me and I started BAWLING as I cut it even. Im ok after reading this and at least she has a year and a half before she starts school. Thank you all for making me feel better with your own horror stories... lol!

When my younger sister was about 7 she also BUTCHERED her hair all off! Now shes 15 and she just went to the hair shop and got a really fashionable mo-hawk style cut. I guess she's always had it in her. lol

She begged and begged to cut her own bangs--I used to do mine all the time before I cut all my hair off, now I actually have a stylist do it, woohoo. I said, it's not as easy as it looks. She said pleeeeeeeeze!!!!!1!

So I said fine, and straightened up the resulting crookedies. Her bangs are far, far north of her eyebrows. They're almost north of her hairline. But she's happy and proud so whatever, it's hair, it grows.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

I'm only 18 but I remember at her age it was a favorite past-time of mine to try and prove that I could cut my hair and make it look pretty. I failed miserably, completely destroying my bangs on family photo day (although there wasn't a much more that could make that picture any uglier). It's rather funny though, because, now I have plenty of practice with my bangs (I trim them regularly to keep them out of my eyes) and none with the rest of my head...

Well I should have known something was up by the amount of time he was in the bathroom. Yet I decided I would soak my tired feet in my foot soaker/ massager. I have not done this in a long time and hoped it would help since I stand all day at work. Well he found my little sciocors I keep in the car. He has/ had the softess, crullest hair. ofcourse he wants straight. I was letting it grow out yet now he has managed to cut a great amount of his cruls off and use a large amount of my hair gel... I took the scisors and told him how disappointed I am in him. That I should not have to hide them from him. Also that he didnt ask to use the gel and that he was wasting it. I offered to finnish his cut yet he said it was ok... Since he was a mess with hair and hair gel I had him take a shower and now he is inside for the night ... I havnt looked at his head yet I am hoping the curls have been kind and he doesnt look too much like dork... What to do what to do????