Kid Amnesiac

I’ve been feeling a trifle guilty for all the TV Simon has been watching lately, but I have to say it truly saved the day today. I had more or less decided to let the issue go until good weather arrived and/or I got the downstairs playroom set up anyway. After all, until we have crafts, puppets, and a house downstairs, there simply isn’t always enough to keep Simon occupied on cold or rainy days, especially days when school is out. And anyway, he’s watching Thomas and Friends and Curious George, here, not The Deer Hunter.

All absolution aside, today Simon’s little habit came in very handy when Matt and I took him for a haircut at Cookie Cutters. Simon has had two haircuts in the past. The first involved Matt and I holding his head like a vice while he screamed and bucked and the poor stylist tried to cut. He was the loudest kid in the place, and by the end Simon was covered in hair, snot, and tears and Matt and I could hardly hear anything over the ringing in our ears. I think we all had a bit of PTSD.

When it came time for the second haircut, I was out of town and Matt conned his mother into going with him. Poor Evie. She really deserves better than that. According to the reports, Simon fared about the same as the first trip.

That was six weeks ago, and the long back, scraggly sides, and messy bangs were telling us it was time for a return trip. We tried to pretend not to see. We postponed as long as we could. But this weekend, our calendars were wide open, Cookie Cutters did not have us on the “not allowed to return” list, and there was no more putting it off.

Serendipitously, yesterday Simon discovered that he loves the character Henry on Thomas and Friends.  I don’t know if it was the story line (Gordon took Henry’s special coal in hopes of running faster, leaving Henry with the regular coal that makes him sick) or Henry’s color (green), but he was drawn to this little engine more than any I’ve seen. Simon excitedly called out his name, “Henny” as he says it, every time he saw him, and later in the day crawled up on the couch and asked to see “Henny” again.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, Cookie Cutters has TVs at every station, and they had a Thomas video in stock. So this time, we were able to get Simon engaged in the show and looking for “Henny” before the cutting began, and the ruse lasted long enough to cut the back, sides, and top with little drama. There was some whimpering at the bangs, and by the time the stylist went to clipper the neckline, Simon was getting pretty agitated. So I put an end to things right there, deciding that setting a non-traumatic precedent for haircuts was more important than the quest for perfection. By the time Simon got his balloon, he was smiling again and able to say bye-bye to everyone.

So let’s hear it for “Henny”, Simon’s special friend, and now mine, too.