A first haircut is usually more stressful for the parent than the child. What will they do? Will they be happy? Will they cry? All the curls will be gone. They won’t look like a baby anymore. Trust us, we know. We know these are the things you worry about. But it will be ok. Our job is to do our best to make it ok. For you and for your child.
We will give them the best haircut we can. If they cry we will try to soothe them and if they don’t stop, we will get through the haircut (if you want). Our goal is to give your child the very best haircut possible, with the best memory for future experiences.
Please know that we understand, some children do not like haircuts. We are trained for that. Usually, if a child is going to be upset, it is around one and a half to two years old. That “stranger danger” kicks in, fight or flight. We ask to please try to not come in right after you have been to the doctor for shots. Or the dentist, that has been poking and prodding their mouths. Save a first haircut as the only experience, or at least the first experience of the day.
Also, children feel our energy. If you are anxious they will be anxious. Use the word “trim”, not “cut”. “We are going to go get your hair trimmed” as opposed to, “We are going to go get your hair cut“. Remember we also say things like… “Don’t touch that, you will cut yourself” which means something totally different. And please, we know that sometimes this isn’t your first rodeo. Maybe you’ve had an unpleasant experience before here or someplace else. But if you come in saying… “He/She is going to cry (hate this, scream etc)” chances are, yes that will happen. Kids can hear everything. I mean, everything. Even on the car ride in when you are talking to each other. Let’s start this experience from the moment you leave home, with a car ride full of “This is going to be so fun! You are going to get your hair trimmed!”.
Please don’t rush! Be on time. Rushed energy makes anyone anxious. Allow for traffic, all Washington traffic stinks these days. Give them time to settle in to their surroundings. We strongly advise that you make an appointment, arrive a bit early and come in to play for a little while. You might want to skip the park first and go afterwards, only because we have found that children don’t want to leave once they are playing.
You might be surprised, especially if you’ve been to another salon and had a not so great experience, what a difference this list makes.
*Click the image below for a larger version of the list we created to give you some helpful hints