Saturday, February 21, 2009

Mop-chopping with the Williams boys...

First off, let me start off by saying that historically, little kids plus haircuts usually equals a whole lotta crazy. Rhys fits this historical pattern to a "T". He whines, screams, kicks, punches, and who knows what else to get out of that chair and away from those scissors. But we knew what to expect from Rhys. What we didn't know is how our little angel child, Caden, would react.

Caden is a pretty mellow child in general. He's happy most of the time and whenever he isn't, it isn't a big deal. He whines a bit if he's in a bad mood or hurt and really cries if he's hungry or scared. Otherwise, he's a kid a majority of parents would enjoy having. Caden started off like his normal self, quiet, curious and gentle. He and I sat down in the chair, got quasi-covered with the drape and off we went.

As Patrick, our barber/victim, started cutting his lovely, long locks, Caden emitted a low whine that slowly become a agonizing scream. Caden did not enjoy being restrained, and I put that mildly. He squirmed and cried, tried to push myself and Patrick away and generally put up quite the fight. Thankfully, he's still rather small so it wasn't physically taxing having to hold him. The main focus of effort was restraining him without hurting him. 37 hours and 2 pounds of hair later, he was done and happy to be out of the hot-seat.

Rhys was next and his behavior was in line with what we went through when we last came to the barber shop. I sat him down in my lap, held down his arms with one of my own, and with my other free hand helped Patrick limit the movement of his head. Instead of using scissors this time, we opted for the clippers. While, not the first choice for style, the clippers provided a quick and effective method to trim down the unruly mass that is Rhys' hair. I think we all were relieved that it didn't take near as long as our previous trip. Rhys wasn't quite as appreciative about our choice, but it wouldn't have mattered if we decided to use a pair of hedge-clippers, he wanted no part of that haircut and he made his intentions known.

After Rhys was done, it was my turn. Unlike my two boys, I've been getting haircuts most of my life. My main challenge is to attempt to not fall asleep. I've always found getting a haircut a very relaxing sort of experience. So in the matter of a few minutes, I was done.

Now, with all the Williams boys ears effectively lowered and Patrick generously tipped, we proceeded into the BX/PX to show off our new doo's and claim our just rewards. Those rewards came in the form of Little Mermaid II for Caden (really for Emma) and a train for Rhys.


All in all, another day of adventure for the Williams family, coming out in the end with two happy smiling boys, and two very tired but happy parents.


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Caden has taken a liking to his brother's cups so we invested in some for him. It's been a week with him learning to crawl, eating our food, trying to stand and him going completely off bottles. Something tells me that Caden is trying to catch up with everyone his age, which is great. The last thing for us now is his weight and once he catches up in that area we can completely stop adjusting his age.

Bottoms UP!

4 comments:

klbuley said...

Rickie would kick, but he would holler and scream and cause a bloody scene! He eventually grew out of that and now he just tries to duck the clippers - however he is willing to get a haircut - but he's still not fond of it.
Its nice seeing you with your boys Adam....i hope one day our military paths can cross and I can get to know Emma and your boys.

Only the Sheppards said...

LOL, hellians or not, your boys are adorable pre-and post-cut. :) Thanks for the warning about haircuts... I had no idea!

The Letteer Family said...

Nice do's. Haircutting is such a challenge with kids! One day, huh?

novasparkles said...

Sounds like an eventful day. lol