*Disclaimer: Since I wrote this piece, Mike has taken Jack again for a haircut and he acted crazy – just like he did with me so bottom line is……Mike still gets the job!

Even though Jack was born with a full head of hair, Mike and I had decided, in keeping with Italian tradition, to wait until he was a year old to get it cut for the first time.

Fast forward six months later to August, when it’s sticky and hot and his long curls are not only stifling and in his way, but also prompt every person who sees him to exclaim – “What a pretty little girl you have!!” And off we were to our first haircut.

In all honesty, the first couple of cuts went well. He sat fairly still and there was no fussing when the scissors came near him.

Then, somewhere in between his second and third cut he decided he REALLY didn’t like this process.

The drama would start as soon as the cape went on.

When the scissors came out – forget it. He was inconsolable. The shows he put on were Oscar-worthy.

I came to dread these sessions, which occur every 7 weeks or so, and somehow grew to include other family members. We would literally take over the salon and try everything we could think of to distract Jack from his hysterics.

We would give him his favorite snacks to eat.

We would make funny faces.

We would give him his own fan or water bottle to play with.

When all of the above failed to work, we’d tell him to stop his shenanigans and that there was no reason to cry because it didn’t hurt (yes, I realize that trying to reason with a toddler is pointless but when I’m in panic mode I fall back on what I know).

It got to the point where, when Jack saw where we were walking into, he would drop to his knees and immediately start screaming. This is when I decided there HAS to be a better way! So my natural next step was to pose the question on FaceBook and Voila! I had several solutions to choose from.

Some people found that giving a treat after was enough to calm their kids.

Others found that, as their children got older they just seemed to grow out of it.

Another suggestion, which I actually ended up trying, was to change locale. I also took it one step further (at the same friend’s suggestion) and had Mike take Jack to get his haircut. I simply removed myself from the equation.

And guess what?!?! Now dad has a new title to add to his resume: Official Haircut Chaperone.