chop chop

I’ve never been one to hack away at other people’s hair – I’ve never had the desire. I’m not qualified in the slightest and wouldn’t want the blame for something horrific to happen (which it would). Because let’s face it – as easy as a hair stylist makes it look, snip snip, it’s not. There’s a lot of skill required and you can certainly tell the difference between a good mop-chop and a bad.

So why did I think it was a good idea to cut my daughter’s fringe?

Perhaps because of the countless tales that all parents tell about cutting their children’s hair; the pudding bowl jokes aside, it seems that most parents DO cut their kids hair. Which is a terrifying thought, really.

Let’s be clear though – she doesn’t have much hair at all. At this early stage of her life it’s rather fine and wispy and pretty much only sprouted after her first birthday. She no longer looks ‘bald’. Or like a boy. But she had this fringe, the remnants of her mohawk, and it dangled in her eyes.

‘You should really cut her fringe,’ my mother said on countless occasions. ‘It’s getting in her eyes, she can’t see… she’ll get bad vision’. My mother has a way with words.

So after weeks of this, I gave in. I grabbed the kitchen scissors and pondered my best time. She was in her high chair eating crackers watching the Wiggles. She was very content, happy even. Kind of still. Almost very still. I grabbed her beautiful fringe, the one that I would try to clip to the side (she’d always wrench them out), and I lifted it up and gave it a good snip. She moved. Right at that moment. The cut was crooked. Very. So I had to lift it again. This time I thought I’d do it up high like I’d seen hairdressers do. I snipped again. It looked dreadful. Worse than dreadful. It was horrific. It is far too short. And blunt. Oh f***, I said. I then tried to ‘thin it out’. It helped. A little.

My daughter has a mullet. A short, blunt fringe. I hope it grows back fast. My only consolation is that she is far too young to hate me for this. As long as we don’t take too many photos right now, she’ll never know.

I will never cut her hair again.

Tamsin xo