Whenever Caleb needs a haircut, we'll all have to brace ourselves for loud wailing, flying arms and hair all over the place. If you want to know how many persons it take to cut Caleb's hair, I'll tell you at least 3. One person to cut his hair, one person to hold him and pin his arms down and at least one other person to try to distract him and wipe his tear soaked face. Initially we attempted to cut Caleb's hair on our own but we just can't get past 3 snipes without him kicking up a big fuss and having a very crooked cut. We decided that we were incompetent for the task and we need to pay $$$ to get the professionals involved.
That proved a very trying task as well coz we usually end up traumatising the hairstylists, who get very flustered when he starts his loud wailing and puts up a fierce struggle. That's not counting the other little children waiting for their turn to get their hair cut and lots of passerbys who just got to stop outside the shop to stare and see what the big commotion is all about.
We concluded that it's the sound of the shaver and the vibrations against his head and seeing his hair drop in clumps that really scares him. So, we tried to talk to Caleb about getting his hair cut to address his fear.
When I play with him, sometimes, I'll pretend to cut his hair and together we'll practise going snip, snip and create the sound of the shaver. I let him have a go at pretending to cut my hair occasionally. (Usually I end up getting my hair pulled and tugged at.) We also talked to Caleb about him being a brave boy and how he's a big boy now.
During our last two hairdressing visits, he appeared prepared and even excited. But the minute he saw the chair and the whole setup, his fears would get the better of him.
So on Friday, again, we talked and talked about Caleb getting his haircut. Before he reached the saloon, he said to us in the car "Later Caleb won't cry coz I'm a brave boy." Me and Daddy were a bit skeptical and we got ourselves prepared for the worst.
When we reached the saloon, there was only 1 little girl getting her haircut. Thinking that we got to wait for a little while, I went off to run a quick errand. I was back in 10min and I was in for a surprise. There, for the first time, was my little boy. Sitting on his own in the chair, all wrapped up with the plastic sheet to protect his clothes. (Usually he'll protest and start wailing at this point, and we end up wearing the plastic sheet and putting him on our laps.) Daddy was sitting beside him looking very amused. The hairstylist who was this elderly auntie was snipping away and using the shaver as well. Caleb squirmed whenever the shaver was used but there was no tears. Daddy talked to Caleb from time to time and he was able to respond to him. Looking at him, I was thinking "Wah! My little boy is really growing up already. So brave!" We praised him a lot after that to encourage him.
We were really not prepared for his bravery, which is why we didn't bother to bring any camera coz we thought we'll be too busy pinning him down. But our little boy was obviously in a very good mood and very pleased with himself. He went home to pose for us so that we could capture his nice haircut.
Hopefully, future haircuts will be a breeze for us all!
