About Sweetmama Editor
Nadine Silverthorne’s love of journaling began in Grade One with the entry, “I am the greatest dancer!” Two babies (and countless diaper changes) later, she has found her home away from home as editor of SweetMama. Don’t miss her humorous bi-weekly accounts of the joys and pains of working while raising them fabulous.
I always thought cutting kid hair would be a cinch. Just park them in front of a video and take the scissors to those overgrown bangs and do a little trim around the ears. No prob.
Or how about in the bath? Just rinse them down afterwards, right? I did not consider that there would be a pound of hair in the bathwater that would make rinsing impossible. Or that my attempts to get their bangs just right would cause them to look like Emo Phillips. (See my daughter's hair here.)
So I've hung up my scissors. If you're in GTA, the options for kids haircuts are amazing. There's the Melonheads chain, which offers cute seats and kid-friendly decor, as well as a myriad of bribes to buy on the way out. (They got locations in Ottawa, Vancouver and Calgary too.)
There's a great new service that I've been hoping to try called Haircuts on Wheels. Owner and stylist Kimberly Irwin will drive to YOUR HOUSE and give your kids a respectable, attractive haircut (while parked in front of the TV if you wish). Best of all, this Mary Poppins of hair does all the clean-up and hands your kids a lollipop before she tiptoes out. Now that's service!
My big kid is not a fan of change or the unknown, so when I had to cancel our appointment with Haircuts on Wheels, he insisted on going to Little Tots in the Beach. The clincher there is that they have a germ ball pit. All the parents cringe uncomfortably, thinking of the thousands of children that have touched those balls over the years, but the kids have the best time ever. After a really short wait, Baby Girl was up for her first official chop.
She doesn't actually have much hair. She has that signature toddler mullet. If she would just sit still and let me put in some fabulous Bugalugs or Angel Lily hair accessories, we'd have no problem. But as it stands I am constantly brushing her wispy, flyaway strands away from her eyes. But the haircut was so much fun -- for me at least. Watching my little girl in her wee seat, having her blonde locks snipped and styled was more than my mama heart could bear. (I took so many photos that I crashed my BlackBerry!)
Angie, the gentle stylist, finished it off with a cute top-of-head pigtail (with minimal protest from Lucy). We were given a few locks of Lucy's hair along with a certificate commemorating the event. Finish off with some Yummy Earth lollilops (I had the foresight to pack -- I'm getting better at this Mom gig) and one last adorable brother-sister pic. Awesome!