Sorry Charlie

Neighbor Susan has been exclaiming recently about the state of her baby's hair.  Her baby being Charlie, who happens to be (almost) NINE.

But still.  He's her baybee.

Charlie hasn't had his hair cut in weeks (months?).  He normally sports a sort of buzz cut.  Very short.  Which means that, even after months of neglect, his hair wasn't long by normal standards, but in Susan's mind, he looked "exactly like the fifth Beatle".

And I'll admit, he was a tad shaggy.

This afternoon I received a call from Susan wherein she asked if I could rightthisveryminute cut Charlie's hair.  She'd had enough of the Beatle nonsense.

So along comes Charlie a few minutes later ready for his trim.  He seemed cheerful enough for a kid who was being forced to have his hair cut by a person who was patently UNprofessional.  And if he did have apprehension, he was mollified by my suggestion that he watch Harry Potter while I worked.  (Wizards! They make everything better!)

Doesn't he look thrilled?

But then things seemed to take a turn.  Charlie was edgy about my scissors.  He seemed afraid that I might actually cut him (and, well, I *could* have cut him... I've cut my own kids a time or two.).  There was flinching.  Much flinching.  And also a few moments of actual dodging.

I did an alright job on the back, but I know I didn't do my best around his wee little ears.  I think he was afraid I might snip them right off.  And by the time we got to his bangs, well, he just jumped up and said "it's fine, FINE!".  And then he raced off to check himself in the mirror.

"Oh SHIT!", I thought, "my kids have NEVER checked themselves in the mirror!".

And that's when I realized I've cut the hair of a person WHO ACTUALLY CARES what they look like.  My children have never ONCE even GLANCED at themselves after a haircut.  They're still little, and they just don't care about their reflection in the mirror.

I can imagine Charlie, one day years from now, telling his own children about how his mother forced him to have his hair cut by THE NEIGHBOR LADY who ALMOST CUT HIS EARS OFF and made him look STOOPID.

That is, if he HAS children.  What if this ONE bad haircut alters the course of his life so much that he will be muttering about it while shuffling down the alley toward the cardboard box he calls home.

OH GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE?