The Haircut Experience

In our quest to be "bad" while PC & LargeBoy were in Michigan, we did the haircut thing. When Ex was still admitting he had another son, he used to do the buzz cut thing on SmallBoy's hair. Surprisingly, the buzzer never freaked him out. Since that whole situation has changed, and shown no signs of improvement, SmallBoy's hair has gotten longer - MUCH longer. He has taken the shears to it once or twice and I made some pathetic attempts to clean it up. Well, it was time to venture to a pro this time.

I had geared him up for it, letting him know that it was up to him if he got a "handsome cut" (nice and layered and handsome), or a "cool cut" (the standard buzz which he is used to). I told him that this was a new place we were going, and on the way back from our dinner out the other night, showed him exactly where the shop was. He thought it looked cool enough and wasn't nervous or anxious at all. Still, you never can tell, and I had no idea what to expect from him once he got INTO the shop.

I had scheduled 3 simultaneous appointments so that none of us would have to wait too long for the others. Girl & I, since we have more hair and would take longer, went first, and the woman who would cut SmallBoy's hair was finishing up a perm on someone. He started out sitting in a chair about 5 feet from where I was, and then started spinning on the floor and doing his "moves", as he calls them. I knew he was either getting impatient or anxious - or even a bit of both. I told him he could come and stand by me as long as he stayed out of the stylist's way - which he did. Soon enough, L. called him to come and hop in the chair.

She asked him how he wanted his hair and he told her "a cooooool cut". I reminded him that sometimes people who aren't in the initial conversation don't know what our words translated to, so, he promptly explained to her that he wanted a buzz cut. I was very proud of him. Next, I waited for him to jump at the buzzers, cuz it had been a LONG time. Nope, totally cool. He sat still, she buzzed, they chatted. He talked to her about his siblings, his mom's band, what his summer plans were, video games (of course), his upcoming sleepover (he's having a friend over at OUR house!!! WOO-HOO!!!), and on and on and on. HE kept the conversation going - and that's just it - it was a CONVERSATION. He paused, let her respond, and then responded to her response! I was like, WOW - (ok, Dad, I was REALLY WOW! - tee hee).

She let him decide if he wanted it all really really short or just a tad longer on top, she let him decide if he wanted her to spike it up a little or leave it just like it was. I think the only time I ever saw any trait of "Aspieness" was when the hair would fall on his face or his neck. That bothered him a bit, total sensory stuff - BUT, he never freaked. He waited, carried on conversation, until she stopped to do something else, did the shake off, and kept on talking. He was amazing. Having the shortest hair, he, of course, was done first - a fact in which he relished. That was rather convenient, as it left the door open for a teaching moment - as to why he didn't go first, because his hair was the shortest and would take only a little bit of time to cut.

Of course, we had to keep up our badness. We walked over and relished in our Frozen Dairy Delicacies at the custard stand...Heh Heh Heh