Okay. I hate this story, and now it's old news, but I feel like if I don't blog about it, I'll regret it. And at very least, whoever is out there reading this might get a kick out of it. I can *almost* find it funny now.
Almost.
It's not even much of a story, but...
Smack in the middle of Rachel's wonderful visit, I up and decided that Nolan needed a haircut. It was getting just a touch unruly, and we were over at a nearby shopping center that has a real barber's shop right there handy, so I was like, "Let's just duck in here and get him a trim." They even had a sign in the window that said something about getting "a big boy haircut for the little guy". Seemed legit.
So, in we strolled.
Issue #1 was that I don't really have super strong opinions about haircuts. Even my own. Mikel, on the other hand, is more particular. (That is to say, Mikel has better style sense than me.) And I kind of knew he would have more opinion about Nolan's hair than I do all along.
Issue #2 was that there was a kid finishing up in the seat just before Nolan, and this kid came away with a CAYUUTE haircut. I mean, cayuuute. Looking back, this made me drop my guard even lower (no pun intended).
Issue #3 is this:
Like nearly all barbers we have encountered here, this one had a thick Russian accent, so our communication was rather choppy anyway.
Basically --
I sat Nolan in the chair before we really talked about what was going to happen. (remember the cayuuute kid before us!)
I said something about "a trimmed up haircut for the summer".
The barber said something about a "short summer haircut" and something about getting "off the baby hairs" and something about making it "thicker".
And I was like, "Yeah, sure - that." (because THAT OTHER KID WAS SO CAYUUTE!)
And Rachel said something trying to warn me - I forget what she said - but all I could think about was that other kid's haircut being so great.
And then this happened:
After 1 swipe, I knew this was bad...
And the worst part?? Because Nolan was shrugging and squirming under the buzzer, the barber made me hold his arms down to finish!
I just stood there, pinning his arms through that drape as his gorgeous red locks drifted to the floor. He cringed. I cringed. I tried to tell him with my eyes how sorry I was, but I didn't want him to see the fear I felt that his daddy was gonna shoot me dead on the spot.
Praise the Lord Rachel was there with me, or I just might have cried.
And then it was over.
The haircut cost $15. I handed the barber a $20 bill, to which he replied, "Okaythankyouseeyounexttime!"
I was too stunned to even demand my change. Just had to get out of there. And had to put Nolan's hat back on ASAP!!
Mikel didn't see Nolan that night.... or the next night... It was the longest delay of my life because every time I looked at our baldy baby (which is A LOT of times in 48 hours!), I was filled with dread at Mikel seeing him. I pretty much just kept a hat on Nolan at all times just to calm my own emotions. And all of this over some hair! Sheesh!
Of course, I had told Mikel what I did. My wonderful husband is the epitome of a man of few words, and when my confession was met with only this phrase: "I'm not too happy about that..." - combined with frowns at the above photos - I felt about 1 inch tall.
No comforting words. No "it's just hair"s. No "it'll grow back"s. No "thanks for trying"s.
Oy.
So I start babbling all kinds of comforting thoughts to HIM! All those things I was hoping he would say to me...
"Just think how nice and cool he'll be all summer..."
"This will make putting on sunscreen really easy..."
"Now he won't need another haircut for months. So really, this will save us money!"
"He's always been a hat-wearer, so that won't be a problem."
Sigh.
I'm happy to say that 1) I am still very much alive, 2) Mikel found it in his heart to forgive me, and 3) as I am writing this 6 weeks later, Nolan has a very nice little crop of red hair growing back. Oh, and 4) Mikel is officially in charge of all of Nolan's haircuts henceforth.
This was my Facebook status when the deed was done:
"The Great Scalp Reveal of 2014 is done. Mikel was slow to anger and abounding in love. I came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and coffee prepared exactly to his liking. Though I had displeased him, he extended his rod toward me and spared my life. Soon and very soon, we are going to see hair again. His lovingkindness is better than hair. Amen and amen."
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