You Don’t HAVE to Have Kids!

Over the course of my career in the field of hair-doing, I have had just about every kind of person you can think of in my chair. I’ve had high-powered lawyer types, doctors, celebrities, working stiffs and stay-at-home moms. You name it, I’ve probably talked to one of them. Above all else, I have to say my most difficult clients are small children. This is not to say they aren’t fun or that they don’t need haircuts, just that they present their own set of challenges in doing so. When they sit still, they’re great! When they move their head as you’re combing their hair or blending out the guideline, that’s fine too. It’s when they don’t want a haircut that can make or break the situation. ESPECIALLY with the *little* little ones; they don’t want a haircut or anything to do with whatever you’re planning and they are going to let you know in the only way they know how: crying and fighting to get away from the source of their ire. This is not their fault, nor is it always the fault of the parents, kids just do what they do!

This raises the question of what to do when they’re a little too squirrely or fighting you too hard for you to actually do your job. For me, the answer is simple: don’t do it. This might sound an awful lot like admitting defeat but consider the fact that you’re going to be waving potentially sharp objects around their HEAD (which contains a lot of very important things, like eyes, ears maybe a nose). Most times, kids don’t consider the fact that it’s just a haircut and you may have done small-fry’s hair a dozen times over but both of those details are no longer an option, as the munchkin has decided that today, it just. Ain’t. Happening. I have had kids go so far as to grab the scissors and try to push them away, to turning suddenly and darn near gouging out their eye (the gouging should occur with the bill, not before) and I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve nipped the crook of one of their ears, which I believe is among the reasons for my partial hearing loss…

Of course, the parents are going to try to convince you that since they’re already there and they drove ALL the way to the shop, that you should just go ahead and cut their little bundle of loud’s hair and they “don’t care if it blends.” This, in my experience is false. If they didn’t care how their offspring’s hair looked, they wouldn’t have brought it to you and I can guarantee almost as certainly as I’m sitting here typing out this litany of random adjectives that they do, in fact, care about how Ignat’s hair looks and if it gets messed up, you can bet your bottom dollar that there’s a negative review in your future! What’s worse, is when the child is in that frame of mind, there’s almost no changing it and do you *really* have that kind of time, energy or desire to fight with it? What would you do if an adult client was fighting your every move? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you wouldn’t put up with it and see them out the door! Why should this be any different? As for the parents being inconvenienced by having to either come back or what have you, welcome to parenthood. This is part of raising children and well, this all sounds like a YOU problem, doesn’t it?

Of course, you’re welcome to try to cut the kiddo up and it may or may not work but one thing I’d like to leave you, the professional, with is: YOU’RE in charge of your chair and what you’re comfortable with, in terms of services rendered. This is also a safety issue for both the child and your sanity, let alone your livelihood!

If you’re a parent reading this, then I say yeah, your mini-me does need to get its haircut but often times, you’re not in charge of how it’s going to react, nor are you to dictate what the professional is going to do, in light of certain circumstances. Just because you brought it “all the way to the shop,” does not endebt us to you or whatever your demands are. You can come back, when the tantrum subsides. Do not try to convince us, do not hold it down and say “Just go ahead,” and do not, do not, do NOT argue with us. Full stop. Take it home and try again after it’s had its nap. Everyone in the shop (and I do mean EVERYONE) will thank you.

-Written by our very own COVINA BARBER TIM DREW