The One About All The Hair Cutting

Dave sez,

As you can see, I don't really have to worry about haircuts anymore.

It was a conscious pre-meditated decision. I had the opportunity to be part of an ice-cream eating competition a few years back. I thought it would be fun to put a bet on it. I'd never been in any kind of eating contest before. The odds of me winning were slim to none. I was more grateful to be asked and glad to participate. I said if I lost I would shave my head. Turns out I liked the look and felt comfortable with it. With my thinning hairline, there was no going back.

Now, our boys on the other hand... Their hair grows pretty fast! Surprisingly fast! It seems like we're going to the barber every other week. It's really something more like six weeks. But it seems like we're always going to the barber. Mainly because as soon as we get home from the barber, the boys start asking, "When are we going to get a haircut?"

We were trying to plan the next visit, when Justin stopped asking.

It was this past Sunday morning. We're were getting ready for church. Ethan and Bella were at the table eating breakfast. I didn't see Justin. I thought he was prettifying himself in front of the bathroom mirror as usual. I went downstairs and found him in the bathroom - cutting his hair.

I was kind of surprised.

There was some hair on the bathroom floor and on the counter top. I expected that. I expected there to be some clean up afterward. A couple of days later there was some hair on the floor that he had missed. After a "thorough" cleaning.

I was surprised that there was no blood, or a missing ear, or a tragic, tragic folicular mishap. I was impressed that he was able to trim his own hair as well as he did. He did need some help cleaning up his collar line. I pulled out a straight razor and helped him with that. On the whole, he did a pretty good job.

I'm pretty impressed that he managed to keep a steady hand.

He looked at me with a smile on his face and said, "After church, I'll cut Ethan's hair!"

You're thinkin' the same thing I am, aren't you? Of course you are. 'Cos I'm thinking that at some point, Justin's going to get a wild idea about pranking his brother. He's going to trim a little to close, or there'll be some kind of "oops" moment of some kind. It could happen. It wouldn't unexpected.

What is surprising is the resourcefulness and ingenuity that Justin showed. Of course, there's the trust that Ethan had in Justin cutting his hair. Justin saw something that needed doing and he did it. That's pretty impressive. What's more his execution was as sure as his intent.

When a person sets his or her mind to it, nothing is impossible. Somethings are better choices than others. It's encouraging to see character as it develops. That makes any parent proud.