A Haircut

Originally Posted April 8, 2002

I forgot to mention in yesterday's update that Ben received his first haircut last week on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. We unfortunately did not record the event since we went to the barbershop with only the intention of letting Ben see me get my haircut. We thought that if he saw me get my haircut and live, he might not be so scared. But once I was in the chair the chair next to me opened up and the owner of the barbershop, Charles, offered to Paula to cut Ben's hair. So Paula took a seat in the chair and held Ben on her lap. As soon as the clippers came out he started to scream, tears rolling down his cheeks. So Charles reached into a glass jar and pulled out a lollipop and presented it to Ben. He seemed pleased enough with the colored paper on the end of the stick but when Mom took off the wrapper and stuck it in his mouth his eyes widened in silent surprise. So the morning that saw Ben's first haircut also saw his first experience with a lollipop.

It was somewhat of a mess as Charles continued to cut hair as Ben sucked on the lollipop. Blond hair stuck to his cheeks which were still wet from his earlier crying. Once enough hair collected he would wipe it away with the hand he was holding the sucker in. Of course the sucker came away covered in hair and was promptly placed back in his mouth by Ben. Paula said she must have washed the sucker off four times during the haircut.

Afterwards, whether it was the sugar or the haircut, Ben was very happy with himself. We took some pictures of him in front of the barbershop. Somehow he now looked years older with his new haircut. Paula almost got emotional at losing her little boy but she held it all together. He's still cute as he can be.