When the Baby Becomes A Boy & the Haircut

Anyone who knows me…as in really knows me…knows that I’ve been hanging on to my baby’s long locks for a long time. Grandparents have begged me to cut it. Strangers have repeatedly said “ohhh…SHE’S so cute”.  And even though our standard response has been “SHE is a HE…and thank you!”, none of it has phased me. My little guy has always had long hair, well, since it started growing when he was a baby. Sure, he has had countless haircuts (okay, they were “trims”) but I’ve always been standing over the hair stylist’s shoulders threateningly that she better not cut off the curls. I heard if the curls were cut off that they would never return. I was deathly afraid of that.

Yes, he was blessed with a head full of angelic curls. Or shall I say, he was blessed with curls. As he has gotten older, the curls have slowly straightened out.

It started like this…

and then it started to get like this especially in the summer…

Then after he turned two, it started to straighten out a bit…

Nooooooo! I was devastated that the curls were disappearing!! I just kept letting it grow hoping the curls would stay! This is about the time that the problems with his hair began. At some point, a hair stylist (can we call them that at the kid’s hair cut place?!?) gave my son bangs. Straight across bangs. It wasn’t bad at first but as the hair grew in the back, the combination of the bangs and long hair started making him look like a girl. “Grow out the bangs and that will make him look more like a boy,” people suggested.

Do you know how hard excruciating it is to grow out a toddler boy’s bangs? You can’t use bows, clips or barrettes to keep it out of his face during the day. This is what we have been struggling with for months. Yet, I refused to cut it.

“Buzz it off,” my husband would say.

Are you crazy?!? Never. Going. To. Happen.

So, during the grow-out phase of the bangs, he just wore a lot of hats. For months, he wore hats!

As the bangs were growing, the hair was getting worse. I didn’t know what to do. The “hair stylists” at the kid’s haircut place had no idea what to do. His hair was turning into a bad bob with bangs that were too long but too short to tuck behind his ear. Finally, I had enough. I was complaining to MY hair stylist that I just couldn’t figure out what to do with his hair but cutting it all off wasn’t an option. I just wasn’t ready.

“He’s just meant to have long hair. It’s what makes him HIM!” I insisted.

I showed her a photo of him and she said she had the answer. I have heard that before. Grow out the bangs, I get it.

Nope, she said it has to have a style. It needs a good cut. The little girl bob haircut isn’t working for him. Ouch. That one stung. She promised she could fix it.

“Schedule him an appointment and bring him in,” she insisted. “I know I’m more expensive than a Supercuts-type of place, but believe me, it will be worth it.

Okay, I gave in and today was the day! Time for a haircut.

All I can say is that she is a miracle worker! Seriously, I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out. It’s perfect. Long enough but yet he looks like a boy. Sure, he looks like a mini Justin Bieber but waaaayyy cuter.

Just look at the before and after photos:

Here it is from the side…

And the back…

Category: Mama Tips of the Week