When in college I learned I had the gift of barbering. Well, I enjoyed the craft enough to continue exploring and learning. I desired to get better, and learn to cut my own hair, and as result saved money. Early in my matriculation, I had to learn by cutting my younger brothers hair (11yr old Charles and 4yr old Joshua), in addition to cutting my own. By the end of the summer my freshman year, I was equipped with enough confidence to sell my services.
Fast forward years later and several hundred haircuts, I now have a son of my own that I am eager to groom and teach him style. Even now, Deena and I have small disagreements about how to treat his hair (SJ is so tinder-headed so we’ll see how this turns out). My point is, I now have the opportunity to play a role in defining my own sons style early in life. And that’s so important to me.
Here’s the thing, the worst thing a parent can do is take a child to the barbershop prematurely. Two-three years old is the soonest any parent should be attempting to cut their child’s hair. More important, the child should be able to behave, listen to direction, and sit still enough that the barber won’t have to be forceful. Now granted each child is different, and each child will require a learning curve of the culture and ‘Rules of Engagement’ at the barbershop, but this is learned by viewing how the parent acts when they get their hair done.
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