Surviving Parenthood…..one bag of hair at a time!

Parenting is hard, yo! There are no owners manuals to raising kids. Just when I thought I was starting to grasp this parenting thing, my daughter thought it would be fun to write a new story in her childhood.

It was just an ordinary day; I had left the house to go pick the kids up after school, stop off at home for a few minutes to change clothes before heading off to Girl Scouts. We have our routine conversations on the way home. You know, “How was your day?” and all that jazz.

I had just pulled out of the school parking lot when I asked that question today. My son started by telling me about a project he was working on. We made it about 1-2 miles down the road when my life was changed forever!!

It started with my son. I honestly can’t remember what he said, but my daughter must have handed him the bag of hair. He asked her a few questions before I realized what was going on and he handed me the bag of hair.

It was at this time that I think all the breath left my body. I’m driving the car on the way home from school, I’m just realizing that my daughter cut her hair and is missing giant chunks from her hair, but I haven’t seen the damage yet. Panic is starting to set in as I imagine the extent of the damage in my mind.

I guess she decided to cut her hair in class because she said, “I wanted short hair.” This is a complete shock to me, since she’s been trying to grow it out like Rapunzel for years! As I pull up to the traffic light, I contemplate pulling into our local hair salon but I know my stylist doesn’t work on Monday.

I have about five more minutes to drive before I can actually SEE the damage!

I continue to ask questions. My son is reassuring me that it’s “not that bad.” She continues to tell me pieces of the story. I honestly never know what to believe from 5 year olds since the story changes every few minutes.

She ended up in the principals office. She told me the principal was really nice and loved her pretty red hair.

This isn’t my first encounter with the principal. We’ve actually gotten to know each other quite well thanks to my oldest. He likes to “visit” with her regularly; or at least he did last year. (Knocks on wood – things are going really well this year)

As I’m stopped at the red light, I send a quick text to my husband with a picture of the bag of hair. I’m still in shock and I think I surprised him too. He just replied, “OMG!” I resist the urge to text back since the light changed. He’ll have to suffer along with me wondering just how bad it is.

I finally get home and I take a very big, deep breath before I turn around to look. We got out of the car and I am so relieved that it’s not as bad as I imagined it. She took a good chunk from the front (both sides) just below her shoulders. Her hair is almost down to her rear and it almost made it look tapered from the front. It’s hard to tell with that “after-school” rats nest on top of her head!! (You know the look, the “I never brush my hair” look that all kids have when you take them out in public.)

I snapped a few really quick pictures to share with my husband.

Then we quickly changed clothes and headed off to Girl Scouts. No one even noticed the chunk of hair missing from her hair.

We have an appointment scheduled at the salon for Wednesday, she’ll have to suffer through the bad cut for one more day! I still don’t know why she did it for sure. I’ve heard 2 different stories from her and I’m sure I’ll hear a different one in the morning when we follow up with her teacher.

I’m going to go back to my corner and enjoy a few pieces of Halloween candy now before heading off to bed to tackle another day of parenting. Hopefully tomorrow won’t include any bags of hair!

Thanks for sharing your funny hair cutting stories with me earlier today on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You really helped me laugh it off a little and realize that we’re all in this together.