Jen was a barber, and had always cut her eleven year old daughter Mary's hair the same-in a chin length bob. It was slightly inverted, with about an inch clippered in the back, and bangs that just brushed her eyebrows. Mary never really liked having short hair. All of her friends had long hair. Their mothers would braid it and put beautiful ribbons in their daughter's hair for school. All Mary could do with her hair was wear barrettes and headbands. Mary was jealous, and always begged her mom to let her grow it out. Jen would just say, "Oh don't be silly Mary. Your hair looks just fine for a girl your age. The mothers of your friends have to spend so much time and money to keep their daughter's hair looking nice. They have to get the ends trimmed, and buy expensive shampoo and conditioner, then spend all that time brushing and styling it. You can just run a brush through your hair and it looks great. Besides, I can trim it whenever it starts to get shaggy. You don't have to sit in line at the beauty salon and wait all day for a simple trim." Mary wished she could have her hair cut in a beauty salon. She hated having her mother cut her hair. It was so embarrassing. Her mom cut her hair in the same place she did the boys. She even used electric clippers on Mary's hair. She hated how her mom would buzz her hair like she did with all of the boys. Even worse, whenever Jen was cutting Mary's hair, boys in her class would pass by the shop and stare at her. Then they would tease her the next day at school.
One day Mary came home from school and Jen noticed her daughter's nape was getting really shaggy. It's only been two weeks since Mary's last cut, she thought to herself. Oh well, Mary eats lots of milk and protein, and its getting close to summer, and her hair always grows faster when it's warm out. "Mary, stop by the shop after school tomorrow. Your nape needs buzzing." Mary nodded reluctantly. It was no use arguing with her mom.
The next day Mary hurried down to her mom's barber shop after school, so that hopefully none of her classmates would walk by and see her getting a haircut. Mary walked into the shop out of breath. "My, aren't we in a hurry?" Jen said. "Oh, um I just wanted to get home to watch tv. There's an all afternoon cartoon marathon today and I want to watch it." Jen said, "Ok, but you know the rules, no tv until your homework is done." "Yes mama." Mary said. "Ok, well hop on up and let's get you cleaned up dear." Jen said, as she lifted the booster seat onto the big red leather barber's chair. Mary wasted no time jumping in. Jen came over and threw a towel over her daughter's shoulders and picked up the clippers. She was about to turn them on when she noticed that most of Mary's hair needed to be cut. Jen set the clippers down and ruffled Mary's hair. "Hey Mar, I'm just gonna give you a full trim today. Your hair is growing like weeds." Jen said. "Moooooom," Mary whined. "That'll take too long. I'm gonna miss all the shows." "Oh nonsense." Jen said, as she pulled the towel off of Mary's shoulders and ripped a tissue out of the dispenser. You'll be back in time to watch most of it." Jen wrapped the tissue tightly around Mary's neck and tied it, and snapped a large red pinstripe cape over it. Jen sprayed Mary's hair to dampen it and combed it out. Maybe I should give her a shorter cut, for summer. Jen thought to herself. "You know Mar," Jen stopped herself. "What?" Mary asked. "Oh, um nothing." Jen said. She decided that it would probably be better not to tell Mary until she started cutting. Jen figured that the best way to go about it would be to very quickly run the clippers from her nape all the way up and over her crown to her forehead. That way Mary wouldn't have much of a choice but to let her mother finish the cut. Jen wasn't sure what kind of a cut to give Mary, so she decided to be on the safe side and start with a one inch clipper guide, just to give her some options. Jen snapped the one inch guide on her largest set of Osters, and popped them to life. Instinctively, Mary bent her head forward. She knew the routine. Jen paused. Was she sure about this? Did she really want to do this to her daughter? She knew Mary was going to freak out. Oh well, Jen thought to herself. It'll really be better for her. She doesn't need hair to deal with during the summer. Jen was ready. She took a deep breath. Here we go, she said to herself. She placed the clippers on Mary's nape, and slowly pushed them up about an inch, like normal. Then she quickly maneuvered them up an over Mary's head. Then Jen turned the clippers off. She knew that Mary was going to flip out, so she was going to have to stop and tell Mary what she was doing. "Mom, what are you doing?" Mary yelled. Then she looked into the mirror and burst into tears. "I, I can't believe you. You did this on purpose!" Mary accused. "Yes, I did Mary." Jen said. "I hate you!" Mary blurted out. Jen took a deep breath. "Mary, summer is almost here, and school will be out in less than two months. It's already blazing hot out, and your hair grows so fast when it's hot. I'm going to be very busy soon, with all of the boys coming in for summer buzzcuts and such, and the shop is always packed during the summer months, and I won't have time to be giving you a haircut every two weeks. I decided that you should have a shorter haircut for summer." She said. "H how short?" Mary asked nervously. "I'm not quite sure yet." Jen said. "A pixie or something?" Mary said. "No. I want something shorter." Jen replied. Tears streamed down Mary's face. "I'm going to look like a boy!" She blubbered. "Oh, you will not-" Jen started to say. "I'll be the laughing stock of the whole school. I hate you. Why are you doing this to me?" Mary said. "Oh stop it dear. Mary really, you will not be the laughing stock of the whole school, and you most certainly won't look like a boy. You're a very pretty girl, and sure as heck won't look like a boy." Jen said. "C can you please, not make it so short?" Mary pleaded. "No Mary. A shorter hairstyle will be best, and I'm not negotiating." Jen said. "Why do you have to do this to me?" Mary whined. "Oh, it's not like I'm hurting you. It's just much more practical for you to have a short haircut. You'll be running around all summer, and and won't have to fuss with brushing your hair or taking so long to get it cut. Now scoot back in the chair and let me finish." Jen said calmly. Mary bent down and put her head between her knees and covered her head with her arms, crying very loudly. "I won't let you cut all my hair off." Mary cried. "Oh, you'd rather walk around town with a short strip of hair down the middle of your head?" Jen said. There was a long pause. Mary slowly sat up and put her hands in her lap. Jen handed her a tissue. "It'll be alright hon. You'll see." Jen said as she gently kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Are you ready?" Jen asked. Mary sniffled for a moment, then nodded." "Do you want to watch?" Jen asked. Mary shook her head. Jen spun the chair facing away from the mirror. Then she patted Mary on the back and said, "here we go." Mary bent her head down so that her chin touched her chest. Jen switched the guide to a quarter of an inch for the back and sides. She turned the clippers back on and gently pushed them up Mary's nape. She mowed another path next to the first. Then another, and another. Tears streamed down Mary's face as she watched large clumps of her hair tumble to the floor. Why me? Me thought to herself. It's not fair. Why couldn't my mom have been a teacher, or a nurse, or have owned a cute little store downtown? Or at least been a hairstylist. Men are barbers. Mary's thoughts were interrupted by her head being lifted upright. Jen placed the humming clippers on Mary's right cheek and slowly sheared off her sideburn. Mary's glazed eyes were fixated on the wall as Jen buzzed the hair on the right side of her daughter's head. Mary was a child, and had a small head, so it only took Jen three or four passes with the big Osters to shear the first side. Jen walked around the large red leather chair and ran the clippers up the left side of Mary's head. Jen made a few more passes, then stepped around to the front of the chair. Jen switched the guide to three fourths of an inch. Mary looked at her mom. Jen looked into her daughter's teary red eyes, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then she turned the clippers back on, and placed them on Mary's forehead. Jen cupped Mary's chin and gently tilted Mary's head down. Then Jen made the first pass. Mary cried softly as she felt her hair float past her cheeks and saw it land in her lap. With every pass her mother made, the pile of hair in Mary's lap grew. Finally, Jen turned the clippers off. Jen thought for a moment about what she wanted to do, then got out a large comb, and placed it flat on top of Mary's head. Then she took the guide off of the clippers and started to run them over the comb. Little hairs tickled Mary's cheeks as they floated down. The clippers made an unusual clickity noise as they ran over the large comb. Mary sat very still and her mom clippered off more hair. After what seemed like forever, Jen turned the Osters off, and placed a level on the hair on top of Mary's head. "Good." She said, then she took a smaller set of edging clippers out of a drawer and turned them on. Jen carefully used them to shave Mary's sideburns and hairline, then pushed Mary's head forward and shaved a few inches up Mary's nape. She turned the clippers off and inspected Mary's head carefully, then took a little brush and dusted off Mary's head and neck with some talcum powder. She looked at Mary. "It's really short,....... isn't it." Mary said staring at the large pile of her hair lying on the floor. Jen picked up her daughter's head and held her chin in her hands and said, "Yes honey, it's pretty short. I decided on a flattop. It's about half an inch on top, and tapered from a quarter of an inch to shaved at the bottom, and along your hairline and sideburns. I think that it will be a great cut for you. It'll be easy to maintain-very much a wash'n'go style. It may need to be trimmed more often, to keep it looking sharp, but I can handle that. Flattops are pretty quick." Jen said. "So I have to keep it this short?" Mary said, sounding quite worried. "Yes. I was just going to have you keep short for this summer and let you grow it out during the school year, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that your hair will look terrible as it grows out of the flattop, and by the time it grows back into the bob, it'll be spring, and will be time for another flattop. So I've decided that you are going to wear a flattop from now on." Jen said. Mary started sobbing. "You can't do this to me. It's not fair. I don't want short hair to begin with, and now you're making me have short hair for the rest of my life?" Mary cried. "Well, at least until you are finished with high school and college." Jen said. "My life is ruined. No boy will ever go out with a girl that looks like a boy, and I look like a boy." Mary sobbed. "Oh, now my beautiful daughter does not look like a boy." Jen said. "Besides, how can you say that? You haven't even looked in the mirror!" Jen said. Mary bawled, "I don't want to see myself. I'm going to be hideous. I just know it." Mary covered her newly shorn head with her arms as her mother turned the chair around, facing the large mirror. "Take a peek" Jen whispered into her daughter's ear. Slowly Mary lifted her head, arms still covering it. Jen gently pulled them away from her daughter's head. Mary took one look at her new haircut, and screamed, then burst into hard sobs. Jen hugged her daughter tightly, and gently cradled her head in her hands. She stroked Mary's soft clippered nape. Jen slowly lifted Mary's head up, and said, "Mary, just look in the mirror." Jen took her hands off Mary's head, and Mary studied her new self in the mirror. Her big brown eyes looked huge. All of her features seemed enhanced by her hair, or, lack thereof. Her neck seemed slimmer, her bone structure, more defined, she even noticed her ears. They had been hidden behind the bob for so long, she never noticed how delicate they looked. Mary slowly turned her head from side to side. For an eleven year old, she was absolutely gorgeous. Her small hands found their way to Mary's shorn hair. Mary got chilled all over he body as her hands explored the soft pelt she now sported on her head. A smile crept across her tiny face. "It's so soft, and my head feels so light. I, I think I like it." Mary finally said, in almost a whisper. "Oh I'm so glad." Jen said, as she burst into tears. "I didn't think you'd ever forgive me. I thought that you'd hate me forever." Jen said, sniffling. "I love you mom." Mary whispered into her mother's ear. "I love you too sweetheart." Jen said, giving Mary a big bear hug. "Hey mom?" Mary said. "Do you think you could make it a little bit shorter?" "Are you sure?" Jen replied. "Yup. I want it shorter." "How short were you thinking dear?" Jen asked. "Can you make the top like the sides?" Mary said. "That's pretty short honey-a quarter of an inch." Jen said. You could still wear headbands with it the way it is now. I don't think you could if I took it that short." Jen said. "Yea, I want the top like the back and sides." Mary said assertively. "Well I want you to have a flattop, I really don't like the look of all one length, and if we took the top down to a quarter of an inch, we'd have to do the back at a zero." Jen said. "Ok, that's what I want." Mary said, scooting back into the chair. Jen unsnapped the cape, and shook it. It sounded like cracking a whip. Mary watched as the large pile of hair that had been sitting in her lap joined the pile on the floor. She began to cry. "I, it's all gone." She sobbed. Jen tried to comfort her daughter. "Oh, honey." She said. "I know it's hard, but I needed to do this. Short hair will be better for you. We don't need to cut it any shorter. I think it's perfect the way it is." Jen said, as she started to fold up the cape. Mary sniffled. After a long pause, Mary said, "No, I still want it shorter." "Ok, if you're sure." Jen said. She threw the cape around Mary's shoulders and snapped it back on. Then she snapped the quarter inch guide on the big Oster clippers, and turned them on. Mary sat up straight with her head erect. Jen quickly reduced the top from a half inch to a quarter of an inch, in a few swift passes. Then she turned the clippers off and took the guard off. "Head down." She instructed. Mary pushed her small head into her chest as her mom popped the clippers back to life. Jen placed them at Mary's hairline and started buzzing the first path. Shivers went down Mary's spine as the cold steel blades went higher than she'd ever felt them before. They went up, up up, over her occipital bone, all the way to her crown. When they reached the top, Jen flicked the clippers and a tuft of Mary's thick hair rolled down into her lap. The big Osters quickly reduced another path of Mary's hair to stubble. Then another, and another. Soon, Jen was lifting Mary's head, and peeling off Mary's sideburns and the sides of her head. Jen finished the back and sides, then grabbed the large comb and placed it on top of Mary's head. Mary sat ever so still as the clippers clickety clacked over the comb. Jen ran the Osters over the comb several times, then used the level to make sure it was all even. She went over a few places again, then turned the clippers off. She used the small brush to dust off Mary's head and neck, then unsnapped the red pinstripe cape, and shook it out. Then she folded it and laid it on the other barber's chair. Then she untied the tissue and threw it in the trash. Mary's little hands immediately reached up and felt the top of her head. She grinned. "Gosh Mar, it's really short." Jen said, as she studied her daughter's newly shorn hair. "I think I'm gonna have you grow it back out. "Oh no, Please mom, I really really like it like this. I like how the top is soft like the back" Mary said, but she stopped when her hands ran over the back and sides. "Oh. I don't like this." Mary said, of the stubble on her head. "It feels like sandpaper." She said. Jen thought for a moment. She could just shave it with the edging clippers, but that would still be rough, and it would grow back to stubble in a day. But she really didn't think she should give her eleven year old a hot shave. "Mom, can't you do something about this?" Mary whined. Jen took a deep breath, and said, "Alright, but you'll have to sit really, really still." "Ok." Mary said, as she sat up. Jen decided to make it a surprise for Mary, so she turned the chair back around. Then Jen tucked a big thick white towel into Mary's collar. Mary wasn't sure what was going to happen. Jen soaked a smaller towel in steaming hot water, then wrapped it around Mary's head. "Ouch, owie owie owie mom." Mary whimpered. "Oh, hon, I'm sorry, It won't be there for long." Jan said. Mary nodded, and shut her eyes tightly, trying not to focus on how hot her head was. Jen finally took the hot towel off, and the air felt as cold as ice against her burning hot skin. Mary shivered for a moment, until she felt something warm being rubbed all over the back and sides of her scalp. Jen massaged thick hot lather into Mary's skin, then wiped her hands, and picked up her straight razor. She stropped it on the leather belt on the side of the chair before starting. She was nervous. Maybe she shouldn't do this. Mary was only eleven, and her hair was extremely short for any female, let alone one of her age, and she would have school the next day. Jen just shook her head and decided to do it. Mary would survive, and her hair would grow back if she didn't like it. Jen reminded Mary, "Sit very, very still now." Mary said, "Ok." "Head down." Jen said. Mary bent her head into her chest. Jen placed the sharp razor on Mary's hairline and started shaving the back of her head. Mary began to feel weak as the razor shaved passed up her nape and over her occipital bone. She felt wierd inside. Jen wiped the blade and shaved the next path. She worked very slowly and cautiously as she shaved her daughter, careful not to leave nicks or cuts in Mary's fragile scalp. Mary didn't budge as her mother shaved the back of her head. After an eternity, Jen lifted Mary's head up, and shaved the sides of her daughter's head. Soon, both sides were shaved clean like the back. Jen ran her fingers over every inch of skin that she had shaved, to make sure that she didn't miss any hairs, then walked over to the sink. Mary felt the cool air bite into her freshly shaved skin. She shivered. "Brrr." She said. Jen rushed back with a warm wet towel. She used it to wipe off the excess shaving lather, then she dried off Mary's head with a clean dry towel. Last, she rubbed some lavender oil into the freshly shaven skin, then dusted Mary's head and neck with talcum powder. Jen un-tucked the thick towel from Mary's collar, and said, "Ok, all done." She spun the chair back facing the mirror. Mary's hands flew up to the freshly shaven skin. She gasped, "Ooooooh, it's so soft mom." Jen came over and gently caressed her daughter's shaven scalp. "Smooth as a baby's bottom." She said. Mary giggled as she looked at herself in the mirror. "It's so short. I look so silly." Mary said. "I think it looks very good on you dear, but you can grow it back out into the half inch flattop if you like." Jen said as she swept up the large pile of her daughter's thick brown hair. "Oh no mom. I like the way it feels." Mary said, still rubbing her smooth shaved skin. Jen laughed. "I figured that." She said. "I really liked it when you shaved me. I want to keep it smooth just like this forever."
Rate this story now.
Enter some comments about this story or see what others have said on the forums.
Recommendations
If you liked this story, here are others that you might like.
Your Internet home for stories about male and female haircuts, head shaves, buzz cuts, alternative hairstyles, and more!
Copyright 2002-2012 by the owners of HaircuttingStories.com