Summer Haircut

Warning to my mother, please don't cry when you see the following really cute picture of your grandsons!
Elijah has been looking a little shaggy lately and I knew it was that time again. He was wearing some remarkable bed-head that a brush just couldn't fix. Fortunately, our friend Rachel introduced me to home haircutting with Elijah's first haircut so I had my own pair of clippers on hand. Elijah has gotten really good at getting his hair cut. It used to be this tortuous routine involving a good DVD some Smarties and a continued promise that it would only take a few minutes. Now that he doesn't cry and wiggle, it really does only take a few minutes no DVD and no smarties.
This Friday, once Elijah was done, I contemplated something I've been debating on and off for a few months...should I cut Jeremy's hair too? I had cut it once, but it was just a trim. Now with the summer and constant sunscreen in the hair (when you have a fair baby who will only leave his hat on sometimes, the sunscreen is very neccessary) I was looking for him to go short. The same sort of short that caused my mother to cry out, what have you done to Elijah's hair, when we returned to her house after his first haircut at 17 months.
Let's face it, I'm no Celine Dion who refuses to put a blade to her son's head. One of the great things about raising boys is that short hair is easy. No tangles, no mess, just zip the clippers over them once in a while and they are happy campers. I'm also a big believer in boys looking like boys. (I'll duck while the tomatoes for stereotyping are chucked at me here). I know the style for boys these days is a little long and shaggy and that's great, when they are 12, not so much when they are 1 and someone comments on your very cute little girl. (trust me, it happened recently and Jeremy was wearing a very blue romper at the time...her apology included the comment, but he's so cute).
But I digress, the long and short of it is, I went for it. I propped Jeremy up in his highchair and started cutting. I waited for the tears and screams...I was not prepared for the giggles. He loved it. He thought this was fun. I have to remember that second children do not do everything the same as the first. (they are so different!). Now due to his beautiful, long, fine baby hair, his haircut took significantly longer than Elijah's. And in the end, I had to step away to decide if I did the right thing. One bath later, I was happy. Yes, he looks a little older now (they always look a little less like babies after a haircut), but it already is so much easier than before. It's neater and so much easier with the sunscreen. It was time, and I'm glad I did it.