Okay, those weren't my exact words. It was more along the lines of, "Oh crap! Are you kidding me?!!"
#5 has been needing a haircut for the past two or three weeks. I kept it trimmed enough to satisfy his school's uniform guidelines, but over spring break it got really shaggy. He usually keeps it quite short, so the fact that you can see it blowing in the wind at our early Easter egg hunt this afternoon is telling.
I thought I'd try my hand at keeping a little length on it, and then taking him for a cleanup cut a week before his baptism next month. I've made plans with my photographer friend, and was looking forward to some good photos of my youngest reaching this milestone.
He sat patiently for me for 35 minutes tonight while I worked with the scissors. Then I backed up and realized I wasn't good at blending, and decided to just go with the clippers as usual.
About six minutes into that, the guide comb popped off and the clipper blade bumped down to his scalp to clean off an inch-thick rectangle of hair. Now I have mirror images of the boy from last year and this:
I really don't want this to become an annual thing though!
#5's reaction to the haircut shows what a sweet soul he is. When I blurted out my frustration at the mistake, he said, "What? Did you give me another bald spot? I love bald spots!" When I was done evening out the hair that was left on his head, he jumped down, ran to the bathroom to check the mirror for his damages, and came back saying he loved it! I was glad he wasn't upset about it and that he was showing it off to the other kids.
I then left to pick up Kent from his travels and came back to find my brother- and sister-in-law playing cribbage with the older girls. I asked if #5 had shown them his haircut, and they said he had met them at the door with his hand covering the spot. The poor kid actually is embarrassed, but he is more concerned about my feelings than about a botched haircut. Heart of gold in that one.
I really do know how to cut hair--see, no bald spots at age 2--but I think I'll toss these clippers and cough up the $7 to have a professional do it from now on.