Pompadores and Pocket Knives or Hair-cuts, DIY style

We've all had one, we've all seen when someone else gets one and we've tried to come up with the "no, really, it looks fine" compliment, "it will grow back." Yes, I'm talking about the dreaded bad haircut. And of course, it's only worse if YOU DO IT YOURSELF!

She did it, she finally did it. My daughter cut her own hair. Oh, and did I mention she used a POCKET KNIFE?!!! And she's a KINDERGARTENER?!!! Now before you start questioning, well, I'm sure there is a whole list of things to question at this point, let me explain...

We were visiting at my sister's house and left the oldest (who, yes, is over the age of 12) in charge for an hour or two so we could go buy flowers and fence-fixing supplies (that's a whole different story for another time). When we returned the boys came running out of the house to let me know my daughter had cut her hair. How kind of them to prepare me for impact.

This is the girl that has the wonderful, thick curls in the adorable haircut for her adorable face. And I'm not just saying that--hardly a day goes by when people, even strangers, don't tell us what fantastic hair she has. Not that I define her by her hair, because nearly as often we get comments on her spit-fire personality, but oh, I do love her hair. And suddenly I was picturing the worst--short chunks and scraggly strands--something akin to one of my own high-school hair-cuts, that I actually paid for (it was the 80's). I was prepared for the worst, thinking, once again, "here comes my come-upance, this time for putting my own parents through hair-cut hell."

But, to my relief, it wasn't too terribly bad. "What happened?" I asked. Then the explaination. It all started the night before when my sister put curlers in her daughter's hair for big beautiful curls the next day. Of course, my daughter wanted curlers, too. So when she found one the next day she promptly twisted it into her hair. And it got tangled tight, stuck, never to come out again. When her brothers asked if she needed help getting it out she said no. Now, why they decided to listen and just leave her alone this time, I don't know, but they left her to her own devices.

"I couldn't get it out, so I cut it out." Simple as that. Matter of fact. Oh, and "And I couldn't find scissors anywhere, so I just used a pocket knife"(which of course she could find--I guess I should be glad it wasn't a bayonet--this was her Uncle Josh's house, after all, with the army tank and the Gattlin gun and scores of other crazy fascinating WWII "memorabilia").

What do you say to that? Where to begin? Who to ground first? Well, I just did what any good mother would--I whisked her into the bathroom to try a new hair-style, attempting to lessen the effects of her new "bangs."

All in all, it could have been much, much worse. I guess I should be grateful she just had one curler in. I should be proud of her independence and ingenuity. I should be thanking my lucky stars she still has all her fingers. So, I'll just say, "No, really, it looks fine. It will grow back." And, hey, she looks really cute in hats.