She left me no choice...

We had been talking about it for quite some time leading up to....ADISON'S FIRST HAIRCUT.  No doubt that God has a sense of humor- he certainly had a hand (and a giggle) in making this memory one I could NEVER forget.

Wednesday night November 9, 2011
...was a great night at home with the family.  Enjoyed a nice dinner, sat down for family movie night (we watched Cars 2) and all was well.  Daddy was relaxing in his recliner.  Mommy was catching up on some journaling.  Krystin was in and out of things as she was busy finishing homework and preparing for the next school day.  Adison was watching the movie and playing.

I'm not sure how neither one of us (I nor Brad) noticed that Adi had slipped away to her room for any length of time but as children do so well... she managed to get some "alone time" of her own.  When she made her way to join us in the living room again it took a few minutes for me to catch a glimpse of what she had done but when I did...I froze.  Speechless.  Heart sank.  Disbelief.  Adison Clare had cut her own hair.


We were careful to be sure she didn't have access to scissors but she
managed to find these tucked away in her hair accesory drawer........
you guessed right my friends, she cut her hair with newborn fingernail
clipping scissors that come in those newborn care kits.
She's innovative, I'll give her that! 

If you know me...you would think that I would have lost my temper and yelled and screamed a bit.  You might even ask if I punished her.  But God knew what he was doing...he was testing my recent revelation of  GRACE!  I'm hoping I passed...I feel like I did or, at least did well because I did none of those things.  I stayed calm and had her take me to the "scene of the crime"...

She grab up some of the hair around her face...

...I'm guessing she was trying to give herself from layers...



...she actually did a good job, she pretty much just framed her face!



To see the wad of hair she had cut scared me...based on what I had discovered when I looked at her hair she didn't look like she had but that much so of course, I quickly checked again!  I was pleased to find that my original assessment of the damage was accurate...it seems that once she realized what she had done she tried to wad it up and hide it (which made it look like more).  As devastated as I felt at first, I had to be thankful that she didn't cut it shorter than she had...she had at least done a job that could be easily fixed.  Of course we had a discussion about how we shouldn't use scissors to cut anything without an adult's help...especially hair!  We should always leave that to professionals. I was surprised when I shared the story that most people asked if she was "in trouble" or "punished" for her actions.  And I can see how you should or would want to make a lasting impression on your child so that they would know what they had done was wrong...but was it really wrong or just a normal, unintentional kid mistake?  I chose to leave the impression but without any further damage to her little heart...had I yelled and screamed and punished her she would have been stricken with fear and guilt.  That's not what I was going for.  So we talked, I treated her how I thought I would want to be treated in the same situation...and all was good.  I have no doubt she learned her lesson. 

Devastated, heart broken, light-headed!
You're probably thinking...devastated? Heart broken?  Light-headed?  Yep!  All those things describe how we felt initially because Adison's hair has been her trademark since she was born.  The child has AWESOME hair...ask anyone who knows her.  Or, anyone who doesn't because we can be walking around in public and perfect strangers comment on her hair, it's the first thing they notice.  We became so accomodated to the hair that was literally past her butt at 3 and 1/2 years old we were in shock.  And a bit disappointed...we had been discussing how to make her first haircut "special" (insert chuckle here).  Well she make it "special" alright....and left me no choice.  Her actions forced my hand...after much procrastination and avoiding...it was time to REALLY schedule the haircut!

And so, I did it.  Brad's mom and I took her to my dear friend Angela Martin at Agape Salon...I had complete faith in her to 'repair the hair'.  Adison was excited, Mommy had accepted and well, our trusted hair expert was about to break down in tears as she cut...

The deed was done...and done beautifully.  It was a big change...but it was a must.  Angela took about 4-5 inches off of the length, tapered it around to the front a bit and evened up the pieces she cut in the front.  To top it off, Adison did such a good job that Angela had enough time to spare to also cut Mommy's hair!  A mommy/daughter haircut day=special.

Dear Adison,

When I say you never cease to amaze me...believe it!  You keep things so interesting.  You help us make some great memories.  You ROCK chick!

Love,

Mommy

P.S. please don't ever cut your own hair again, at least until your an adult.  Thanks ;)