Eleri's haircut

The girls got haircuts.
For weeks, two things had been happening: Eleri was constantly pushing her growing-out bangs out of her face, and Clio was asking to cut her hair short. So a week ago, while Dave was working some weekend hours and Eleri was refusing to nap, we headed off to kids' hair for some back-to-back styling.

Clio returned to her stacked bob, and I have to say, I was worried that she would be sad when her long hair was gone, but this was, once again, projecting. In fact, I was so worried that we hedged our bets, and the stylist gave her such a long bob it ended up just looking grown out and she basically had to do it all over again. The final result? Clio looks just like herself again, and bathtime is SO much more pleasant with less hair and fewer tangles to comb through.

As for Eleri, well, her history of hair challenges continues. Last time she got her hair cut, the stylist suggested that we stop doing bangs "because they'll never be in a clean line." But I've always thought she looked better with a bit of hair on her forehead, and frankly I don't think bangs need to be razor sharp to work. In fact, I often think a softer bang is better. So when I told this same stylist that I thought we should cut bangs for practical purposes, I figured she would be with me. I figured she would trim the existing bangs nice and long. But no. She told me all the reasons that we shouldn't cut "real" bangs, then took a nice big snip, mid-forehead. "Is that short enough?" She asked, as I almost gasped out loud. She proceeded to cut from about ear to ear, and for the fourth haircut in a row, I bundled Eleri out of the salon telling myself that it's just hair (it is!) and that it would grow back (it will!)

Yet once again, I have to admit: it's not what I intended, but it's pretty darn cute. The short bangs frame her eyes nicely, making them look even bigger, and the curls by her cheeks emphasize the last of the baby fat, which I love.




And really, don't you think she kind of looks like one of those campbell's soup kids?



Yeah, I think so. Is there anything cuter?

Teeny Tiny Ponytails

Eleri's hair is finally growing out from the super-short pixie cut I inflicted on her back in the spring. In fact, it is just long enough that we're back to the same problem that led to the twiggy look: a big rats nest at the back, which she does not want combed. I was planning to get her hair trimmed down a bit, when all of a sudden Eleri started wanting her hair done up in pigtails. The inspiration? Clio, naturally. Clio rarely wants anything done with her hair, but last week she had pigtails, and then yesterday she requested two braids. When Clio gets her hair done, Eleri insists on having hers done, too.


We call these "teeny, tiny ponytails" which you must say in a high, squeaky, teeny-tiny voice.

Dave walked Eleri out the door the other day and turned back to say "she looks like a tiny little ninja."

You know what? She often acts like one, too.

I do think she looks different with her hair back like this. She's gotten much taller, too, and suddenly she looks like a kid, not so much a toddler.



It always sneaks up on you, doesn't it?

Oops

We did something rash.

Eleri's hair has been a total rats nest ever since it passed the one inch mark, and lately she has often been seen pushing her bangs out of her face. So we decided to cut it.

There's a bit of a history with the salon. The first time I took her she had such a strong reaction (it was a busy day and I think she just got overwhelmed), we couldn't even stay. The second time I used every trick in the book to get a successful haircut, which I reported on here. It worked, but we were modest about the whole thing, just having them clean up the edges rather than going for the pixie cut we had discussed at home.

So today I took a picture of the rats nest


But also the lovely curls


Before heading off to the kiddie salon to take it short.

I didn't expect her to freak out in the salon, since it was very quiet there today and since the last visit went well. She did, though. She did freak out. So I let her have the lollipop during the haircut, and she sat in my lap. But still there were tears and struggles and a lot of resting her head on my shoulder- not the ideal conditions for a new do. And you know what? Fearing a bigger meltdown, I rushed the whole thing. I said lets go short, and the moment the stylist made the first snip, on the TOP OF HER HEAD, I knew it was going to be terrible and that it was too late. And there is nothing worse than sitting there and watching those lovely curls fall to the floor when you know suddenly and very clearly that it is a mistake.

The result is too short. It makes me think of this other freakout when we took Clio short, and how she looked like such a different kid to me. In the end, that haircut suited Clio, and we have maintained it since. Eleri's short hair makes her look boyish, and baldish, and makes her cheeks look big. Not biggish, but huge! I've been wondering if I should admit how I really feel about it. What I will say is that I have a sinking feeling in my stomach, knots, butterflies, whatever, and that I keep replaying the morning with different results. I've been talking lately about how cute she is now, how I want to pause her right here, so you would think that aharicut that makes her look like her baby-self again would somehow be a god thing, but it's not. It feels like a weird step backward, like she looks like the person she was, not the person she is.

Even the stylist knew it was bad: she told be in a compensatory tone that SHE had haircuts like this all through HER childhood (she now has long hair), then suggested--almost insisted--that we put a bow in it. Nope, I said. She won't wear bows or barrettes or anything. That's why we wanted to cut it short in the first place. She seemed surprised when I paid and told her to keep the change- amounting to more than a 20% tip. I just needed to get out of there.

Here's the thing, though: Eleri doesn't seem to care. And it will be much easier for her- no hair in her face, no rats nest for me to comb through in the bath each night. In about a month, I bet it will be grown out just enough to have some softness back, and maybe the curls will start to reemerge. For now, I'm kind of glad it's sunhat season. And I have a feeling that, as I did with myself after shaving my head in college, I will be compensating by putting Eleri in dresses and frilly shirts and sweet patterns every single day. I love that she's a little tomboy, but I'm not sure I need to correct people when they think she is an ACTUAL boy.



And caring about this makes me feel like a bad mommy.

First Haircut

First of all, I'm going to go right ahead and pat myself on the back: a minor milestone for a second child, and I TOOK PICTURES!

This was actually the second attempt at Eleri's first haircut, and I'm not so sure I took the camera the first time, so I suppose I had the benefit of a second go round. Eleri's hair has been a combination of scraggly and ratty for quite some time now, but last time I got her an appointment at Lollylocks, where Clio has been having her hair done (I know, I put it that way on purpose, just for fun), we walked one foot in the door and Eleri started shaking her head and saying "oooohn," which was "no" before she recently discovered the "n."

At any rate, for a repeat performance, I knew I needed a strategy. The first time around, I went alone, on a busy Saturday. Today, I dragged everybody. Reinforcements. We had the second appointment of the day, so the salon was quiet. My plan was multi-fold: For starters, Clio got into the chair first. The chair, importantly, was actually a car. Facing a TV, which happened to be playing Happy Feet. It was critical that desire build in Eleri, and sure enough, as she watched Clio in the car-chair, she got more and more, well, jealous, I guess. She wanted in. Yes! But, Clio's cut was taking too long, and I was afraid that Eleri would either lose the desire for that coveted seat, or- entirely possible- have a meltdown. So I talked Clio out of the chair when her cut was complete but before her "styling" could commence, and plopped Eleri in.

And you know what? It worked!
For all of 3 minutes, while the stylist sprayed her hair with water (confusing) and combed it out (terrible.)


Do you think I was out of tricks? Dear reader, you underestimate me. I whipped out the fresh-from-Costco twisted strawberry fruit snack and handed it over. An excellent distraction though, for some reason, it made Eleri want to look to the side.

So I stood in front of the Car and acted like some kind of airport ground control, waving and directing and keeping ALL EYES ON ME. Well, that child finished her fruit twist in record time, and I was about to go deep and give her a lollipop to keep her occupied, but, mercifully, the stylist was done.

Of course, Clio still had to get back in the car-chair to get her twisty ponytails, butterfly clips, and glitter (these three items are the reason that Clio will volunteer to get her haircut any day of the week). And now that we wanted her to get down, do you think Eleri was going to relinquish her hold on that sterring wheel? No, she was not. Stylists in kid salons are very flexible people, so ours just put both girls in the car and gamely proceeded to twist up Clio's hair, despite the shrieking from future NASCAR-driver Eleri.


All's well that end's well, and all around lollipops, plus glittered hair, is certainly a well end. (For the rest of the afternoon, Clio kept asking "is there still glitter in my hair?" We assured her that there was.)