There are certain childcare responsibilities that my husband just doesn’t do.  Some things he refuses to do, like cutting the children’s nails.  So I have taken on that responsibility and have only cut flesh once!  (Still feel terrible about that.)  There are other things that he just has never done, like cutting hair.  It’s not that he refuses to cut the children’s hair.  It’s just something he’s never done.  It’s kind of like mowing the lawn for me.  It’s not that I refuse to do it.  I’ve just never done it before, so why start now?

I know that when my children’s hair is in their eyes, it bothers me more than it bothers them.  So, I have to do something about it for my own sanity.  I’ve always relied on the help of others to cut my children’s hair.  My mother gave my daughter all of her haircuts until she was four.  Then, I felt that she was old enough to handle sitting still in a chair at the hair salon without the threat of injury to herself or others.

But, my son’s not there yet.  He’s 20 months old and has a strong and willful personality, definitely not shy.  He lets you know what he does not like, and getting his hair cut is one of those things.  So, he’s only had one haircut in 20 months which was graciously provided by my patient and loving mother.  Until today…

Today was the first time I’ve ever given anyone a haircut (except for myself, which is another unfortunate story).  And of course, I chose my strong-willed baby boy to be my first client.  I knew my husband had a pair of clippers somewhere in the bathroom cabinet.  So, when I found them, I thought it was a sign.  If only I knew how to use them.

There were all of these little black combs.  I knew that I was supposed to attach one to the end of the clipper, but I didn’t know how short they would make my little guy’s hair.  I chose the biggest comb because I only wanted to take off about ½ an inch.  Well, turns out that’s not how these things work.  After placing my son in the empty bathtub, I turned on the clippers, passed the clippers through his hair and HOLY COW!  I practically shaved it all off.  Poor little man.  But, now I had to finish what I had started…

In a matter of minutes, my baby boy looked like a little boy.  It was a little heart-breaking because I didn’t intend for this to happen.  I wanted to give him a trim to get the hair out of his eyes, and now he looks older.  I’m about 99% sure that I don’t want to have more children.  As a result, I often find myself trying to keep my son from “growing up” too quickly.  I know it’s only a haircut, and I know it will grow back.  But, I do miss that baby face on my little man.  I’m officially retiring the clippers and outsourcing the haircuts from now on.

There’s only one other childcare responsibility that I just won’t do.  So when it’s time for a tooth to be pulled, daddy’s up!  If I’m in charge of keeping the nails and hair trimmed, my husband will be in charge of pulling out the teeth.  (I’m not going near that one!)

Is there a childcare responsibility that you or your other half just won’t do?  Share it with us in the comments below!

This is an original World Moms Blog post by Kally Mocho.  Note: don’t ever let her cut your hair.

Photo credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/mom320/399953227/.  This photo has a creative commons attribution license.