He’s just sleepy…
Last night, we were in the barber shop. Aidan was in the chair next to a little boy who was 6 years old. Both started at the same time.
Well, around 10 minutes later, the six year old starts to cry and whine a little bit to his mom. She tells him be quiet, he’s almost done. Two minutes later, he starts kicking his feet against the back of the chair. Mom and barber tell him to stop. Two minutes later, he’s kicking, folding his arms, and dodging the barber. Mom and barber tell him to calm it down, he’s almost done. The barber was visibly frustrated. The whole time, Aidan sat there perfectly still and quiet and got a haircut.
Hmm.
So, they leave. The barbers start talking about it, feeling that the little boy shouldn’t be crying about a haircut at the age of 6, and certainly not being all extra about it. All the women in the shop (minus me) said that he was probably sleepy, it was late, he was tired, the barber took too long. It simply amazed me how they had all these excuses for this little boy throwing a fit in the barber shop. Now, Aidan is 7. He’s had plenty cuts. He’s learned to sit there and not cut a fool.
So. One barber points that out and says “You see the difference between them two boys is she don’t baby her son and let him act all crazy and accept excuses for him acting out when he shouldn’t. That other little boy is gonna be kicking and screaming one day and the police still gonna put him in the back of that police car.” And they all agreed.
Several questions: What would you have done? What do you think about the two takes between the women & the men? Would you have let your seven year old cry through the haircut?
Me? Nah. Aidan woulda been shut down at the first kick. You can cry if you’re hurt, but all that extra? During a haircut? Humph. But y’all probably already know that….
I would do as you say. Some kids today are so unbearable as their parents …
Nice post!
I can’t speak to whether he acts out because that mom babys her son. What I DO know is that mess ain’t cute. As a mother, I would have been horrified. I nipped that behavior in the bud early, and I taught my girls to be embarrassed by that kind of behavior. If I saw a kid acting out in public, I’d point it out so they could see how foolish it looks. It doesn’t sound like she was too much fazed by it, and so he can carry on that way. I think the barber made a leap with his prediction, but I get what he’s coming from.
The barbers are right. All that extra was unnecessary. I could shut mine down with a look. If acts like that all the time he needs a nap first.
Mama Sez: I watch kids play their parents for attention, for things and to embarrass the parents. Frequently, parents seem to be intimidated by their children and seem lost as to what to do next.. Parents seem to be afraid to say “NO” to their children. And I mean “NO” without any or too much explanation.
Mama Sez: It’s not cute. It’s not funny. It’s not productive. There are and will be many situations where Little Man or Junior or Boo (whichever you prefer because you know he has one of those nicknames) is not going to be the center of attention and he will not know how to cope with that rejection.
Mama Sez: Start now before his behavior is constantly out of control.
Not cute. At 6 he is too old to be acting like that in the barber chair.
The barber chair isn’t the only time and place that child acts a fool either…No way would that have gone down.
When Tyler first started getting a haircut at 1 yrs old then yes. Even maybe during his twos he hated it, but by 3 on up, no you get a haircut every other week this is old hat. When he was younger and tried to embarrass me in public by cutting up, I whipped his azz on the spot. We could be in a restaurant, mall, etc. I’m not embarrassed to discipline. He got the point and does not try me in public.. If we see a child cutting up he always says “That wouldn’t be your child huh mom?” Nope sure wouldn’t.
I’d have shut the mess down at the first snivel.
i agree with your take on it. My child is 2 and I don’t let her cut up. It all comes down to how you parent if you ask me
I can NOT take the sound and vibration of those clippers on the back of my neck. It sends vibrations down my spine that feel like paralysis. Now short of the kid feeling that, his lil tail would have to sit there grin and bear it.
I agree that his mother probably lets him get away with that kicking and crying a little too often.
Hell 2 the naww…I have 2 sons 19 and 23 and they know better….I’m sure my boys would have looked at me like “mom I know you’re gonna say something any minute” LOL
dee in san diego
Kids do what you allow them to do…mini me and I would have taken a trip to the bathroom and I GUARANTEE he would never ever had showed out again regarding a haircut.
#latepass there is NO WAY.. even when my son got his first haircut he didn’t really fuss.. at age 6 he had already become so vain that if I let him go longer than 2 weeks for a haircut he was asking WHEN ARE WE GOING MOMMY.. lol the first sign of a fuss and he would get the look and it would shut down immediately..
and I’m sorry you know your child.. if he is “sleepy” then don’t schedule his haircut at that time..