What A Day

OH, MY GOODNESS!!! This is definitely a long post with no pictures, but I just have to vent for a minute. I seriously think I just had the worst experience I have ever had with my child. Mason is by no means perfect, but he is a very happy and easy going child. The main exceptions are when he doesn't feel well or is really tired. Well, today I pushed the tired exception a little too far. Mason really needed a haircut, and I decided to take him today. I wanted to take him before his nap because I knew it would be a lot less busy. The only problem was that I tried to do too many things this morning before I took him, and we ended up at the hair place around his nap time. I semi-questioned it but didn't think it would be that big of a deal because he has never had issues with getting a haircut before. I could not have been more wrong! Mason started off sitting in the car chair, but he kept reaching for me and trying to climb out. I asked the lady if he could sit on my lap while she cut his hair and thought this would work. So she put a cape on me to, and I put Mason in my lap. I thought this would definitely be the solution--wrong again. She took one swipe of his hair with the clippers and Mason started screaming. I should have just gotten up right then and told her we would come back later, but I kept thinking it wouldn't be that bad. Wrong again--I guess I don't catch on very quickly. I seriously had to restrain Mason's hands and arms with most of my strength while holding him in a headlock for the entire haircut. To say the least, it was absolutely horrible! Fortunately there were no other people in there (maybe that should have been a hint that it was not a good time for a haircut). When it was over I profusely apologized to the lady, gave her a big tip, and ran out of the store. To make matters worse, I stuck to my guns and wouldn't let Mason have the sucker that he got when he first got there. He was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath. I was so frustrated, but I also felt horrible. Mason had definitely misbehaved, but he was so tired it was like he could not help himself. I brought him straight home, put him to bed, and I am now trying to catch my breath and recover. The worst part is that I feel like I have set myself up for many more bad haircut experiences. I fear that even if I go at an appropriate time next time Mason will still be traumatized from his last experience, which was mainly my fault. I feel like such a wonderful mother right now. I guess you live, you learn. Oh, and by the way, after all of the drama I'm sure Mason probably has the worst haircut ever!