You Know Your Baby Needs His First Haircut When....

You have to put a barrette in to keep his bangs out of his eyes.

Andrea and I committed well before Elliot was born that we wouldn't give him any choppy home hair cuts.  But now that it's time for him to actually have his first cut, it's not as easy as it once seemed.  I have always wanted him to have his first haircut at Rudy's.  Seems fittingly Portland for baby to have his first do from a punk rock, hipster shop.  But now Andrea's thinking that they can't just cut a baby's hair because we think it's fun for them, but that instead he needs to go to a place that specializes in cutting children's hair.  Terrible places.  Places with movies playing at every station and seats made to look like barbie cars.  Places with terrible names like Kuts for Kids or Kiddie Kuts.  Gag.  First of all, I totally get the need to distract him and keep him still while the person is wielding a sharp cutting instrument around his little baby head, but can't we use mirrors and books to distract him instead?  (Or am I just being too much of a hippy and making a big deal out of this?).  And my second biggest problem is the naming of these so-called children's establishments.  If, in fact, you are a child-focused place intent on supporting the development of the children you serve, don't you think it's important to model for them correct spelling??!?!?  Kuts is NOT spelled with a K!  (And, yes.  I am on my soapbox here.)  We used to live by a childcare center called Kiddie Kollege.  Can you believe that?!  It's enough to make me pack us all up and move to the mountains, live off the grid, and only expose Elliot to novels and things that grow out of the dirt.  But I digress.  Back to the issue of our son wearing barrettes (which I think is just about the CUTEST thing, by the way)... I recognize that we need to take care of this problem.  Maybe I'll call Rudy's today and just ask if they cut children's hair.  Or maybe we'll break down, give him a lolly, and do the snipping ourselves.  I continue to be surprised at how all of these little things that pop up in parenting totally catch me by surprise.  Is it really that big of a deal to give him his first cut? Was your baby's first haircut this big of an issue for you?