My daughter asked to cut her baby doll’s hair. I wasn’t surprised. It seemed inevitable that my kids would want to cut their baby’s hair. Knowing it’s inevitability steered my response.
We talked for a bit about why she wanted to cut it and how she wanted it to look. Since she’s a very particular kid, I also warned her that it might turn out differently than she imagined. I told her my expectation: “If you cut her hair and it turns out differently than you want, you still need to love her and take care of her.”
She delighted in the activity. It was a joy to see her creative spirit flourishing. This baby doll had a serious head full of hair. She was much more extreme with the haircut than I had imagined, but as one who has shaved my own hair a few times myself, I understand the temptation.
I encourage all parents to let their kids cut a doll’s hair. Make it an acceptable and controllable activity. When your child starts asking to cut a baby’s hair, designate one doll that can have it’s hair cut.
The alternative is to say no. But then your child will think it’s a taboo activity and will hide to cut her baby’s hair anyway, at best. Or, she cuts something that you really don’t want to have cut. Plus, why not allow this sort of exploration?
Yes, it may ruin the baby doll. But, worse things have happened. And will.
That is great advice for a parent! We have so many preschoolers who end up cutting their own hair…much to the dismay of their mother!!
Yea. There were many mornings when a preschooler would walk in the room with butchered bangs. Funny thing is that they usually seemed so proud of their work. Gotta love it!