JTsMom
05-14-2009, 06:26 PM
Jason was supposed to get pro pics done this weekend (it's his b-day next week). For the first time, I was actually prepared ahead of time- had the clothes picked out, ironed, the whole nine yards. All that was left was a quicky trim. His hair wasn't that bad, but since we were getting pics, I figured we'd just neaten it up a little.
There is a big, national chain kid's place not too far from here, so I figured we'd give it a whirl. Jason has done pretty well with cuts for a while now, despite his sensory issues. We've dealt with great, very kid-friendly stylists, and he actually kind of enjoys going now. The only part that can be a little tricky is using clippers to finish it off, but it's just for a second to do the bottom in a straight line, and if he is doing ok with it, I have them do a little around his ears. So he's a champ for 98% of the cut, and just fusses a tiny bit for the other 2%- nothing too stressful at all.
Until today.
The stylist was just not someone who had any kind of rapport with kids at all. Not friendly, no prepping him, nothing. I warned her about the clippers. (Keep in mind J's sensory issues too, which I was trying to be subtle about, but she totally blew me off). She starts by totally spraying down his head to the point water is dripping all down his face. So now he's upset (duh). Then she immediately goes for the clippers! So now he's freaking out totally. I get him calmed down, give him a lollipop, and he's still not happy, but is cooperative. She's cutting and cutting, and I'm thinking, "Wow, there's a lot of hair coming off of his head!"
She gets done and wants to trim the back, and he wasn't having it. Honestly, no surprise by that point. She says she's going to get another stylist to hold him down! I said, "Uh, no. That's not a good idea. It took us years to get to this point, he never acts like this when he's getting his hair cut, and you're going to push him to the point where it's going to be a nightmare every time we have to get his hair cut. Not gonna happen, just leave it scissor cut." So we pay- $18 stinkin dollars, and I go to put him in his carseat. Then I see the back of his head. It's not that she wasn't able to trim it and make a perfect neat line- it's that there is a chunk hanging down that's like an inch longer than the rest of his hair!
I march him back in, ask for it to be fixed, and she says "well, you wouldn't let me hold him down!" So I said, "Just cut it with scissors!" Again- this isn't a little piece- it's a big chunk of long hair- totally could have been cut. So we go back and forth, and she keeps telling me we just need to hold him down. I kept trying to explain that he has sensory issues, and she kept cutting me off and saying, "We work with that all the time- crying and screaming is fine!" I wanted to slap her. I told her, "It's not a matter of him crying and screaming, it's that this child has a neuroligical condition, and you are pushing him to the point where I'm now going to have major issues! If some stranger holds him down while you use clippers on him, it would be awful!"
Meanwhile, another mother comes up to me and tells me that nobody she knows will let that stylist near their kids b/c she always does a horrendous job, and that the one time she did do her kids' hair, it was atrocious, AND her kids, who were perfectly calm, were screaming bloody murder, so she now calls ahead of time to make sure there are other stylists working. She said she and the stylist she was working with were laughing when they saw me walk back in b/c it happens constantly with her!
So the other stylist comes over to help. She had to tell our stylist where to cut, etc, but hoenstly, the more I looked, the more I was able to check it out, the more I realized it's beyond repair.
Now the front has that 3 yr old who cut his own hair look, there are these odd chunks missing on the sides, and I'm going to have to cancel the pics.
So when I told DH this story, he called, spoke with a manager who profusely apologized, offered to have a stylist who's son is autistic and has a lot of sensory issues fix it and make sure he has a good experience, give us our money back, plus a free haircut for the future. All of that's great, but I still have to deal with this bad haircut (which nobody could fix- it just has to grow out), postpone the pics and the whole day we had planned around them, and deal with the next few haircuts, which are sure to be a pleasure.
There is a big, national chain kid's place not too far from here, so I figured we'd give it a whirl. Jason has done pretty well with cuts for a while now, despite his sensory issues. We've dealt with great, very kid-friendly stylists, and he actually kind of enjoys going now. The only part that can be a little tricky is using clippers to finish it off, but it's just for a second to do the bottom in a straight line, and if he is doing ok with it, I have them do a little around his ears. So he's a champ for 98% of the cut, and just fusses a tiny bit for the other 2%- nothing too stressful at all.
Until today.
The stylist was just not someone who had any kind of rapport with kids at all. Not friendly, no prepping him, nothing. I warned her about the clippers. (Keep in mind J's sensory issues too, which I was trying to be subtle about, but she totally blew me off). She starts by totally spraying down his head to the point water is dripping all down his face. So now he's upset (duh). Then she immediately goes for the clippers! So now he's freaking out totally. I get him calmed down, give him a lollipop, and he's still not happy, but is cooperative. She's cutting and cutting, and I'm thinking, "Wow, there's a lot of hair coming off of his head!"
She gets done and wants to trim the back, and he wasn't having it. Honestly, no surprise by that point. She says she's going to get another stylist to hold him down! I said, "Uh, no. That's not a good idea. It took us years to get to this point, he never acts like this when he's getting his hair cut, and you're going to push him to the point where it's going to be a nightmare every time we have to get his hair cut. Not gonna happen, just leave it scissor cut." So we pay- $18 stinkin dollars, and I go to put him in his carseat. Then I see the back of his head. It's not that she wasn't able to trim it and make a perfect neat line- it's that there is a chunk hanging down that's like an inch longer than the rest of his hair!
I march him back in, ask for it to be fixed, and she says "well, you wouldn't let me hold him down!" So I said, "Just cut it with scissors!" Again- this isn't a little piece- it's a big chunk of long hair- totally could have been cut. So we go back and forth, and she keeps telling me we just need to hold him down. I kept trying to explain that he has sensory issues, and she kept cutting me off and saying, "We work with that all the time- crying and screaming is fine!" I wanted to slap her. I told her, "It's not a matter of him crying and screaming, it's that this child has a neuroligical condition, and you are pushing him to the point where I'm now going to have major issues! If some stranger holds him down while you use clippers on him, it would be awful!"
Meanwhile, another mother comes up to me and tells me that nobody she knows will let that stylist near their kids b/c she always does a horrendous job, and that the one time she did do her kids' hair, it was atrocious, AND her kids, who were perfectly calm, were screaming bloody murder, so she now calls ahead of time to make sure there are other stylists working. She said she and the stylist she was working with were laughing when they saw me walk back in b/c it happens constantly with her!
So the other stylist comes over to help. She had to tell our stylist where to cut, etc, but hoenstly, the more I looked, the more I was able to check it out, the more I realized it's beyond repair.
Now the front has that 3 yr old who cut his own hair look, there are these odd chunks missing on the sides, and I'm going to have to cancel the pics.
So when I told DH this story, he called, spoke with a manager who profusely apologized, offered to have a stylist who's son is autistic and has a lot of sensory issues fix it and make sure he has a good experience, give us our money back, plus a free haircut for the future. All of that's great, but I still have to deal with this bad haircut (which nobody could fix- it just has to grow out), postpone the pics and the whole day we had planned around them, and deal with the next few haircuts, which are sure to be a pleasure.