Thursday, April 10, 2008

Juancho & the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Hair Day

This post has been percolating in my head for a while...just haven't had the time to post it. Sunday night Juancho & I had a "bonding experience". Not the kind I hope and pray for, not the kind that I plan and prepare for, but a bonding experience nonetheless!


See, Juancho's hair had been getting long...it grows fast! And he was asking to get it cut. At first we thought Saturday morning might work...but no, Robert & Juancho went to show houses for real estate instead (something they LOVE to do together) and the girls and I met a friend to go shopping for a bridal shower. Saturday afternoon was out too since Mami was gone to the bridal shower and Papi was manning the fort with all 3. Sunday ended up pretty busy too...we had our Post-Adoption group after church and after that Robert ran to do some real estate stuff and I took the kids to the mall...Alvin and the Chipmunks were putting on a show to promote their new movie! I didn't care too much about the show, but it was a free event on a rather chilly Sunday so I thought it would be a good chance to entertain the kids with little effort on my part! I was secretly thinking that after the show we could dart into Cost Cutters and get Juancho's hair cut.

Laura & Juancho thought it was pretty cool that they all posed in front of a green screen but the picture came out with the Alvin & the Chipmunks background! Angie on the other hand wasn't so thrilled about it!

BUT...do you know what happens to a 3 year old when they are 2 hours overdue for their nap? Meltdown City! Yep, Angie was not so happy and was pretty vocal about it too! I decided we wouldn't subject a salon full of unsuspecting visitors to that concert! So we went home, got the monster down for her nap and Juancho made his first complaint about not getting his hair cut all weekend. The complaints continued through supper, and though my husband warned me NOT to (truly sorry honey!), I thought "well, I could just trim it up a little bit..."



Juancho all draped up and combed out, ready for the now infamous haircut!

BAD IDEA

Actually, the trimming started off quite good! We don't have hair trimmers, so I used scissor and my intent was really just to cut it enough so he didn't feel it was in his eyes and he felt he got a haircut. Then we'd take him in during the week for the professional job. And the haircut I did looked pretty good...at first. Then I realized that the hair around his ears was a little shaggy and at the hairline at his neck. So I ran upstairs and got Papi's shaver - I've used it before on Robert to do the very same thing...trim around the ears and neck. No problem, right? WRONG!

I didn't realize that trimming around the ears tickles. Until Juancho leaned into the trimmers as I was trimming to indicate that it tickled...and as a result cut a four inch long swath of hair from the top of his ear diagonally toward the middle of the back of his head. And I mean really cut it. This trimmer had no guard of 1, 2 or 3. It was a 0. That path shaved in his head was nearly gone! I audibly gasped. Laura wanted to know what was up. I tried to hide it from her, but to no avail. She alerted Juancho to the disturbance in his hair and I cheerfully said 'Don't worry honey, Mami will fix it!'. Um...I had no idea what I was doing! But I did try to fix it. I cut and cut and trimmed and trimmed - hoping to make it even, hoping to carve a style out of it all. But about the time I got to this point I really was lost. Do I stop? Do I keep going? The barber shops were all closed - it was after 7:00 pm on a Sunday night. I kept going...maybe I shouldn't have...would it have made a difference?


This is where I stopped and thought 'What on earth am I doing?' (a little late, I might add...)

The rock in the pit of my stomach kept growing. What would Robert say? He had told me not to even try this after all. What would Juancho say...he was still happily sitting in the chair watching the movie, fairly unaware of the hack job Mami was doing on his hair. He eventually had to go to the bathroom though. And of course he looked in the mirror...and the tears began. They lasted for about 10 minutes. I apologized, and then tried to help by showing him pictures of famous people with buzz cuts. I focused on David Beckham since he's a famous soccer player! That seemed to help him calm down. By the end of the night before he went to bed he was teasing me. As I cut his fingernails he said "Well, at least you can cut SOME things good, Mami!".


This pic was taken post-tears but pre-fix! If you look closely you can tell how the hair is patchy and varying lengths! But Angie & PJ (and all of us!) love him anyway, regardless of his hairstyle!

Even after it was shaved down to practically nothing, there were some areas that were thicker and longer and some that were shorter. It made it seem he had some sort of hair disease that caused his hair to fall off and grow back in patches. Not good for a fourth grader! So he went into school an hour late on Monday. I sheepishly took him to the barber shop the next morning for a fix it job. They did great, but man it was short! We also popped into Wal-Mart and found two baseball caps - one for $1 and one for $3 (love bargains!). Even though he can't wear them at school, they are on him almost the rest of the time at home!

He was mostly concerned about possibly being teased. I gave him full permission to blame it on me...and I'm sure he has! :) I also dropped an e-mail to his teacher to give her a heads up on what happened and let her know to contact me if she witnessed any trouble with teasing. Turns out one of Juancho's friends came to school Monday mornining with a shaved head too - he had a similar experience! God was looking out for dear Juancho! Teasing has not been a problem either.

Personally, though I wouldn't have chosen the short buzz cut for him, I still think he is quite handsome. I compliment him all the time on his perfectly round head. Plus I think the lack of hair makes his handsome eyes and gorgeous smile pop out even more! He's not sold on that though! The barber told him his hair would grow out long enough that it would seem like a regular style within a couple weeks. Juancho is counting down the day for that to happen!


This is post-fix-it. I love this pic! Right after I took it though, Juancho realized he didn't have his hat on and made me take another one with his hat on!

Meanwhile...Mami will not be making any efforts to do ANY hair cutting on dear old Juancho's hair...EVER! :)

9 comments:

janine said...

Oh, Holly,
You are a GREAT story-teller! And you're right, Juancho looks adorable no matter how long (or short) his hair is! Just give him a little time and he'll be laughing about it (I think my sister might be laughing now about the time I cut her bangs . . . about 17 years ago?!).

Genece said...

Holly,
Okay, hairdresser qualities?? Clearly you don't have them sister. Robert's right... shouldn't mess with it. I'm wondering what his reaction was upon seeing your work? I love your honesty Holly. Bless Juancho for enduring such a time. He's a real trooper!

I could almost relate. All my kids need haircuts and lately I've been compelled to just forego the beauty shop trip and do it myself. After hearing of your endeavor, I'm scared crazy to ever whack on their hair again.

Laura S said...

LOL! And here I had been thinking about tackling Mateo's hair. He cries so bad when I take him to cut it I thought this might be better. But you have reminded me what could happen...so I guess we are off to get it cut this weekend!

Mrs. Hawk said...

Can't...stop...laughing...

LOVE YOU!

Jes said...

Oh, Holly,

How I relate to you. I scare even myself when I pick up a razor to cut hair....I loved this blog. Juancho I think looks quite handsome in his new hairstyle. It is not a look that everyone can pull off, but he does it well!

Donna said...

Holly,

I couldn't sleep last night and came down to the computer room to read blogs. I laughed soooo hard. Scott cuts Jhon-Fredy's hair and I am always afraid to see what it will look like since Scott completely shaves his own head and doesn't like hair. But he does a good job (so far). Juancho was a trooper. And don't touch the girls hair!!!!

Kimberly said...

Oh Holly!!! I was laughing so hard I had tears. Love you guys!
-Kimberly H :)

Connie said...

Too funny! What a sweetie Juancho is, though, and he is sooo handsome! The shape of his eyes reminds me of Camila's. I cut Daniel's hair, but his is curly and is very forgiving. I cut it too short last time, and he was disappointed but not to angry with me. :) It's grown out now and is nice and curly again. I don't mind boys' hair, but I won't do Camila's. I don't know where to start!

Fredericks said...

Having 10+ kids over night I had to pickup a few trades to include cutting hair. And yes I had a few "Oh my gosh!" moments of terror as I stared in shock at a bald spot from experimenting with a razor. I remember asking the boys...."um...hey how about a mohawk?" And of course the explanation..."well it's not going to look even because your head is shaped different on each side and your hair grows differently too." This week is my second round of haircuts. My advantage is that with 6 boys and 4 girls, that's 10 heads of practice each round. I should be a pro in no time. Keep trying!