Way back when Little Guy was not even two years old, I decided one day that my attempts at cutting his hair were not going that well, so I'd take him in for a quick shape-up by a professional. I explained to the hair stylist--a lovely Vietnamese woman, with whom I had a little difficulty communicating, but who I thought could understand me well enough--that I wanted a classic bowl cut. All one length. No clippers, just scissors. This is the haircut that at least every other little boy in my hometown has, and I assumed she would be familiar with it.
I forgot I'd moved to DC.
Ten minutes later, I am staring at my little boy, sporting a stacked bob.
Me: Ummm, don't you think those pieces by the ears are a little long? I think it should kind of be shorter there and gradually slope down toward the back.
Her: No, no. Let it grow out. Very pretty hair. Need to be longer. Stop cutting it, mama!
Me: But the hair over the cheeks is so long, compared to the back.
Her: She not need her hair so short. Let her have long hair!
Me: This is a little BOY!
Her:
Me: Maybe we should just call it a day.
Her: {pulls out clippers}
Me: Yes, I think we should just stop here. Thank you! {exits quickly}
And I'll just go ahead and state for the record that he was wearing a BLUE outfit with DINOSAURS on it that day. This was not a smocked, mint-green bubble day.
I've been cutting his hair, and Buddy Boy's, ever since, save one trip we made to the hometown stylist. I'm no expert, by any means, and some cuts are worse than others, but I know enough not to give him a stacked bob.
This is how we do it.
Once a month. Newsprint on the floor of the bathtub. Stool on the newsprint. Garbage bag with a hole cut in the bottom over the haircut-ee. {Obviously, it would be better to do this outside, but alas, we have no outside.} Haircutting scissors of at least semi-good quality.
1. Comb through the hair with water. Little Guy's hair is really, really straight {not very forgiving to an inexperienced haircutter!}, so I comb it as smooth as possible to help get it all even. Gather up the top section of hair and clip it on top of his head.
2. Have him look down {so the hair doesn't fall on his face, thereby causing a nuclear meltdown} and trim the bangs to just above the eyebrows.
3. Turn him to the side, assign him something to look at straight ahead, and trim from the bangs to the bag, sloping downward, leaving the side length to hit at the sort of horizontal ridge in the upper ear. {Hope that makes sense by looking at the picture. I really don't know my ear anatomy.}
4. Turn him to face away and trim the back. When Little Guy was younger we kept it about an inch below his hairline, but now I trim it to his hairline. His hair is super thick, so I also cut the part that's closest to his neck even shorter, so that the pieces on top will lie right.
5. Even it all up in the back and trim the other side.
6. Let down the top section. Trim it to just barely longer than the bottom layers.
7. Pick up a few random pieces from his crown and cut into them vertically to make some wispy pieces that blend in.
8. Do the same in the front.
9. Shake that head around and check for uneven spots.
With Buddy Boy, it's a little different, because his hair is not as thick and has some wave to it. That makes it much more forgiving, which is a good thing, because I haven't had as much practice on his head. I basically follow the same steps as with Little Guy, but I cut in more of the wispy pieces. I'm always hoping his curls will magically reappear with each new haircut, but I think we have to just settle for a little wave in his old age.
I find that with my untrained hand, the haircuts look a lot better about a week later, so I try to never cut their hair right before a big event.
9 comments:
I SO was about to ask if he was wearing a smocked bubble. HAHA
I love this post! So funny too...because I kept trying and trying to explain this bowl cut (NOT NOT NOT the old Justin Bieber hairdo) to the lady who cuts my sons' hair. So I took a picture with my camera of your son one time straight from the blog. I showed her the picture from my camera and said, "See! This is what I'm taking about!" I didn't delete it until I was sure she finally got it! ha ha Congrats...You still do a better job than she did!!
You do a superb job! ... add hairstylist to your multitude of talents!
Oh my gosh --- I was dying out laughing because of how much we related to this post. Hill began getting his pageboy cut in Huntsville and I had no trouble finding a stylist who knew exactly what to do with it. But when we moved to Charlottesville last year they had absolutely no idea what I meant. Every single time I had to explain thoroughly what I wanted.
Alas, last week he finally asked for a big kid haircut like daddy. In Alabama he was just one of the crowd, but here he was the only boy in his preschool with "long hair." I'm still grieving the loss of his towheaded locks.
I enjoyed your post even though I don't need to do any bowl cuts for now! But, I did want to ask how you know that people are googling "little boy cuts" and finding your blog. Where do I see that kind of info on blogger? thanks!
Do you remember when the aptitude test said you ought to be a hairstylist because you and V liked to do each other's hair? You have finally achieved it! They look so pleased and handsome.
Do you remember when the aptitude test said you ought to be a hairstylist because you and V liked to do each other's hair? You have finally achieved it! They look so pleased and handsome.
Do you remember when the aptitude test said you ought to be a hairstylist because you and V liked to do each other's hair? You have finally achieved it! They look so pleased and handsome.
I read your blog just a few hours after Gus lost his "bowl", and it made me really sad! Keep the bowl as long as you can; they grow up in a matter of minutes as soon as that beautiful hair is cut.
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