November 26: Isla's First Haircut

Yesterday, we took Isla to get her haircut for the first time.  Her hair was getting pretty long and straggly in the back, though it was still pretty short in the front.   I thought it was time (probably past time) to get it trimmed.   But I am not brave enough to attempt to cut my kids' hair myself.  So off to the salon we went!

I knew this would not be an enjoyable event for Isla.  New places/people/situations cause her to shut down and get scared.  I decided to go ahead and get Audrey's hair trimmed first, hoping that Isla would watch Audrey, see how harmless it all was, and be more willing to get her own cut.

Audrey was a little nervous at her first haircut when she was two like Isla, but since then she loves going to see Jenni!  It is usually the highlight of her day.  Yesterday, after trimming her hair, Jenni curled her hair and put in a little braid.  Audrey was just grinning from ear to ear when she got done and couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror.  =)

So then it was Isla's turn.  I wanted her to sit in the chair by herself, but she was not a fan of that at all.  So I held her in my lap.  But when they put the cape on her, she freaked out.  She didn't scream, but she sobbed a miserable little cry the whole time Jenni cut her hair.  I gave her a sucker to distract her, but she wouldn't even put it in her mouth.  It wasn't fun, but we did get it done!

I tried to take a before picture while she was sitting in my lap, but that didn't work too well.  This is the best I got.

 

Getting an after picture wasn't much easier.  Once we were all done, Isla did start to cheer up (and eat her sucker).  It wasn't a drastic haircut, but the back is much more even and less mullet-like now.

Today, I asked her if she liked getting her haircut, and our conversation went like this.

Me:  "Isla, did you like getting your haircut?"
Isla:  "Yeah!"
Me:  "You did?  Did you think it was fun?"
Isla:  "Yeah!"
Me:  "Did you cry?"
Isla:  "No.  Me no cry haircut."

I guess she is in denial and has just blocked the whole experience out of her head.  Maybe if she remembers it as fun, then it WILL be fun the next time we have to get her hair cut!