Hair cuts and pre-school primping

When the kiddos were tiny, we always took them to this place called Cartoon Cuts. It is a hair place targeted toward little ones. If you've never been before, I'll describe it for you. It's decorated in bold primary colors. Like Red, Yellow and Blue walked in and threw up on the walls. It's always loud. Like twenty random children chattering with their parents, five babies crying, and a dozen different movies all on at the same time. It reminds me of that store Justice (which my daughter LOVES). I feel like I'm being yelled at by the walls and other inanimate objects in both places. 

But listen, before I go much further, I'm not entirely criticizing Cartoon Cuts. The one here has good employees. And the monsters have never had a botched cut from any of the stylists. For me, there's just too much stimulation in there. Plus it's always packed. I've never been there when there wasn't at least 3 other families as well. 

As summer came to a close this year, the hubs expressed a desire to have TinyStu's hair done at a "man place." And really styled this time - recently we have just been shaving his head. As you know both kids started a new school and Stu thought it'd be good to send them with excellent new 'dos. 

The boys went toJunior's. It's a man-only place here. I didn't go. This was a father/son bonding thing. TinyStu loved it. Not only did he think he looked amazing, but he said the place was super cool. Of course he hasn't let us style his hair since that day, but oh well. The cut is nice. And TinyStu rocks it! 

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For SmallStu, I took her to my hair salon. Salon LaBrea. I love this place. It's small. It's beautifully designed and decorated. And my hair stylist is a miracle worker. I am a last-minute-Mommy, and when I called to get SmallStu in for a cut, Christina wasn't working. Bummer. So we booked that day with Oceana. Smallest thought it was really cool to go to a grown up salon. Usually she cries about having to have her haircut... She desperately wants her hair to be long. Poor girl, she inherited her dad's not mine. 

Anyway, before the appointment we looked on Pinterest for some cute "bob"-like styles. She was dead set against a bob. Stu wanted her to have one. I just wanted a quiet, fight-free trip to the salon. And I didn't want to be hated after, like the last time. 

Of the styles I had earmarked, SmallStu selected one. She thought it looked cute (her self-descriptive word of choice btw, she hates to be called anything but cute). We showed Oceana the screenshot we had. And so it began. Smallest said her impressions of the salon were that it was "really fancy and nice and quiet." 

Oceana had a great way with her. They talked the whole time. And that's a big deal for SmallStu. If you know her, you know she's incredibly selective. Especially with grown ups and strangers. She watched with an eagle eye too. I was holding my breath. Praying for a positive outcome. When it was all done, she was ecstatic. And I finally relaxed. 

We opted not to send Daddy any pics... like he had sent with TinyStu. Smallest wanted to surprise him when we got home. She loved the experience of the "real salon". She has requested to never go back to the baby place and from now on her haircuts will have to be at Salon LaBrea. 

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