what not to wear: the haircut edition

I love long hair on little kids. Little surfer-boys are cute. When they grow older, they can choose to have a military buzz-cut like every other boy. My boys have gorgeous curly hair that just begs to run wild. So, much to the dismay of my father-in-law, I let their hair grow long.

This is easy, really. My boys were both born with a wild head of hair, and it grows fast. However, recently I had to admit: Obi-1 needed a hair cut. His hair had grown beyond cute & curly and reached moppish lengths. It retained a Farrah Fawcett "feathered back" look, long after bike helmets had been removed. He needed to push it out of his eyes and face when he talked. It started looking like I was raising a Muppet, so the scissors came out.

Yes, I cut my kids' hair. Mostly, it's an economic and logistic decision; I can't see hauling them into a barber shop and paying for somebody to do something I can learn well enough. Again, when they're older and they care, I'm not opposed to the professionals. This is just a season when Mama can make it look good enough.

As I started trimming the front, it became really clear that I'd need to lop off several inches from the back. I mumbled something about "Wow, this really is long. Good thing I'm cutting it all around, or you'd have a mullet."

"What's a mullet?"

Hmmm... how does one explain hair fashions of the 80's to a guy born in 2003? "A mullet is a kind of silly haircut that is short in the front and long in the back. You don't want one."

Business in the front, party in the back. I thought to myself, giggling a bit. What's "business" for a 4-year old? Worse, what does "party" look like for Obi-1? Pinatas? Some bum-bum dancing? Certainly a lot of drumming...