Haircut

Last night was haircut night for Alex. He has been getting his hair cut since he was under a year old. He has pretty thin hair, but is grows really fast. I started taking him to my hairdresser and he did great until he was about 2, then started freaking out in the chair. I tried taking him to a couple of different places with the same results. It didn't matter if he was on my lap, not on my lap, had candy in his mouth, was watching a video - nothing worked to calm him down. So we started doing it ourselves at home, just a basic buzz cut, which didn't prove to be any more successful, but at least we could work together to hold him still and his screams wouldn't freak any strangers out. Then I found a place, Cuts for Peanuts, and tried him there a few years ago. He did great! She was fast and sensitive to his needs and it worked well for a while. But the last time we went he ended up crying on the floor under the chair and we decided that was our last visit. I know kids with Down Syndrome can be especially sensitive to noise and certain touch so I just chalk it up to that issue and plow through the experience at home. It is not a pleasant one though. As soon as I tell him we need to cut his hair he starts screaming that he hates haircuts, he's not doing it, blah, blah, blah. I am the one to hold his hand and Doc is the one with the scissors and buzzer, definitely a tag team effort. If anyone were to hear the commotion from outside the house they would think a mass murderer was on the loose, brutally torturing a poor boy inside. No really, he yells and screams the whole time. When Bella was younger she would make us leave the bathroom door open so she could see that all we were doing was cutting his hair, because the way he was carrying on I think she didn't believe us! We even have to sneak into his room after he is sleeping most times to finish trimming around his ears, kind of ridiculous. And after all that, he looks in the mirror and says, "wow, nice haircut, I look pretty handsome."

He is like that with clipping his nails too. I used to have to do it when he was sleeping to avoid another showdown, and to avoid upsetting the girls over such a simple thing. Now that he is older I can use leverage to get my way - like no game night, stories before bed, etc. until he has his nails clipped- and there is still whining and yelling, but I get it done. These simple tasks most people take for granted cause major drama in our house, and usually take some planning and LOTS of patience.