A few weeks ago, we shaved our baby’s hair off.
Yes, shocking. No, this wasn’t planned. Yes, we are happy with the decision. Yes, he had beautiful hair. Yes, I miss it. Let’s back up a bit.
Our Baby Frugal always had a lot of hair. He was born with a full head, and a bunch all over his body. This is how I like my babies — tiny human forms of ewoks. While his full head of hair grew as he did, he also realized that he didn’t like when Mom had to comb this hair. He also didn’t like when Dad combed his hair.
He cried bloody murder every time we washed his hair in the bath. He cried bloody murder when we used the tangle-free conditioner to help with the detangling of his hair. The key word is help. It didn’t take the tangles completely away, so yeah, we still had tears.
In many Black families, there is this weird “rule” that you shouldn’t cut a little boy’s hair until he turns two. That it’s “bad luck” to do so. I think it comes from the whole Samson and Delilah story in The Bible, but I’m not sure. Basically, at 2, they aren’t babies anymore. They are toddlers. Toddlers can look clean cut. Babies need their hair, or some mess. I always thought it was silly, but my husband believed in the rule, so I obliged.
Brandon Jr. had to deal with his curly locks until his second birthday. I pleaded for us to cut it, but nope. No dice. This time around, with Baby Frugal, things were different.
Baby Frugal is not about that uncomfortable life. If he doesn’t like the way something feels, or the way life is going, he is VOCAL about it. After a quick July 4th vacation that included an uncomfortable time in the pool (a swim cap should have been used), he was just over the hair. During our drive home, my husband said “it’s time to cut his hair. It’s too hot and he’s miserable. Let’s do it tonight.”
Praise Jesus! It was finally time!
But, again, there were tears. He hated getting his hair cut. The sound of the razor, Daddy holding his head just so, it was all overwhelming. It was for me too. With our oldest, Daddy took him to the barber to get his hair cut. I didn’t have to hear the screams and see the tears. This was rough.
But. BUT. After the haircut? He was so happy. I’ve never seen him this jovial. He’s usually a stoic baby, but since that haircut, he’s been a treasure. Less tantrums, more smiles. He’s even talking more. What a difference a haircut can do.
We broke the rules. We decided that that whole “every kid is different” thing is actually true. 2 months before his 2nd birthday, we shaved our baby’s head. We couldn’t be happier about it.
