Someday I'll Laugh About This. Right??

Picture this: Tom is out of the country. I'm scrambling on a Saturday morning to get out the door to Nicholas' basketball practice. The kids are fed and dressed and just need to brush their teeth. I have neither brushed my teeth nor gotten dressed, so I frantically send them downstairs to start their teeth while I quickly get ready. I throw on some clothes, brush my teeth, rush down the stairs, open the bathroom door...only to see this:

and this:

and these: (at the time in the hand of Nicholas)

My mouth flew open, time stopped and I really had no idea what to do. I sent Nicholas to his room to give myself a minute to think. I soon decided I needed a little more than a minute to process. Everyone got in the car so Nicholas could do his basketball while I pondered what the heck to do. During the basketball/pondering period, we got lots of double takes as people walked by us in the gym. I felt like I needed a sign - "Haircut by 5 year old brother this morning"

Even though my hair guy (he's also Charlotte's) doesn't work on Saturdays, I figured I'd call his cell, explain the situation and at a minimum know that I could get in on Monday. No luck. He's out of town until Thursday. I cannot wait until Thursday. So I drive over to his salon to see if one of the other two people there could help. The woman (whom I had figured would be sensitive to the situation) wasn't working. The 22 year old guy took a look, but said he was booked all day and couldn't squeeze her in. I also don't think he was thrilled to work on a 2 year old. My favorite line that he said was "Well, if you'd be willing to sacrifice some of the style..." Um, dude. I think we're already at that point.

So off to Cool Cuts we went.

Still has a fever...just now also has shorter hair.

Side view taken while we waited. The best description I think is Kate Gosselin (note the 1 inch pieces on the crown) meets Billy Ray Cyrus (mullet...enough said). Not. Good.

You'll see here that the left side isn't nearly as hacked as the right. Nicholas was standing on her right side during "the cut". So mostly the right, top and front were hacked. We got more looks/double-takes here, but I did have one mom look at me with pity and ask if she had cut her own hair. So at least one person didn't think the Billy-Kate was the look I was going for with my daughter!

Post trimming. During the cut, Nicholas was waiting in the train table area so he didn't really see her. When we got to the car all buckled in, he looked over at Charlotte and said - "That doesn't look like Charlotte. I think you got the wrong person."

Through it all, I will say that Charlotte took it like a champ. Obviously. She stood there the whole time Nicholas was doing it without complaining. I'm positive I'm more traumatized about this than she is. At dinner, Nicholas looked over at her and said "I really like your hair, Charlotte". She beamed over at him and said "Thank you, Nicholas!" At least all is right with the two of them. As for Nicholas and me, we had a good talk. I got a little teary and he very sincerely apologized without me even asking. When I did ask why he'd done it, he innocently said that he thought her hair was getting too long.

See. No worries for her.

Bring on the hats!