Sunday, January 28, 2007

Remember this post from last December? The one when Emma took her new scissors and gave the cat a haircut? Well, the scissors have been in and out of timeout since then, as she alternately uses them responsibly and messes up. There haven't been any major disasters, just things like cutting paper she's not supposed to or snipping stray yarn ends (trimmings I hadn't gotten around to tossing yet) into little pieces. Nothing I was concerned about losing, but I want her to know that she needs to ASK before cutting anything other than her coloring paper. The scissors are currently in timeout. I though we were safe.

However. On Friday she got a hold of some old SEWING SCISSORS!!! This is something that she knows is completely out of bounds. Mommy's sewing (and knitting and crochet and spinning and weaving) things are not for touching. Up until now, this hasn't been a problem at all. I try and keep my stuff confined, and she knows not to play with anything in the loom room or the small bag I keep next to my chair. But she went into my supplies desk, and got the scissors. This is a picture of how she looked on Jan. 23:



Then Friday, when she came to wake me up in the morning, I noticed that she had a shorter piece of hair on one side. I asked her what happened to her hair, and she ran away. I knew something was up, so I went and looked in the bathroom, and found this:



That's just what I rescued off the floor. I wasn't about to fish the rest out of the toilet. She had cut 4" long sections of hair off, all over her head! It was bad enough that I had to do a remedial trim, to try and make her look less ridiculous.



Still a couple really short bits, but not as bad as it was. At least it's only hair- it'll grow.

And her response when I asked why (WHY?!) she did this? "I had stickies and tangles, Mommy." She had evidently gotten up early, and had been eating peanut butter out of the jar. Some got in her hair, so she was unable to hide the fact that she had been eating peanut butter. I guess she figured if she cut out the peanut butter, I'd never know.

7 comments:

Charleen said...

A child's mind is an amazing thing, isn't it? We've been talking about this in my psychology class and the students are always surprised when they hear examples of the logic of a 3 or 4 year old.

She'll learn and you'll be looking back at this and laughing. We do a lot of that these days, especially as we are all looking forward to the first son/grandson/nephew.

Anonymous said...

you did a great job of straightening that mess out! it will grow back, it is only hair. and you have to love her reasoning!

Jackie said...

When Mira was about 3 she did the same sort of thing. Except that she cut really close to the scalp in some places and ended up with hair that was about an inch long in most places. And the best part, I was out at the time, and when Bill asked her what happened (duh) she said that I did it to her..... And he believed her! She never did it again and now has hair down to her waist.

gray la gran said...

better her hair than your warp ;)

Claire said...

My sister did that once when we were very young and we were staying at a (very) elderly lady's house (to give my single dad a break I suspect).

She chopped the sides (the bits she could see, to about chin length and left the back long.

I had to cut my sister's hair to get it right (or I felt I did). I must have been 6 or 7 years old. ha, I wonder if she remembers.

Unknown said...

I hate to admit it, I gave myself a trim when I was about 4. I took my waist length braids to my shoulders. I can only imagine how my mother felt. My kids have discovered scissors too and I dread the day they start messing with hair. So far the cats and theirs heads have gone untouched (knock wood) but the hanging edge on Kat's blankie was neatly trimmed by her last week.

cyndy said...

what a little gem she is! just look at that face!

oh, um, when I was little, I cut my hair too. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to sleep with my "silly putty egg" under my pillow..which cracked open and stuck to my hair. I remember not wanting my mother to see it there....