That’s how Jon and I have been referring to a caregiver at Lilla’s daycare ever since “the incident.” The incident I’m referring to happened on Friday, November 30th, a mere two days before our professional holiday pictures were scheduled to be taken.
Jon picked up Lilla that day and noticed something amiss. As she toddled toward him with an ear-to-ear grin, arms wide open, yelling “Daddy, Daddy!”, Jon thought to himself, “hmm, something looks different.” Different as in our adorable little girl now looked more like an adorable little boy. And that’s when the Russians ran right up to Jon, “We so sorry. She didn’t know. She didn’t know. We so sorry.” Jon quickly put two and two together that a clueless woman at Lilla’s Daycare decided to cut her hair.
Incredulous, he responded, “You can’t cut her hair!” Chuckling to himself at the audacity of it all (and also I’m sure thinking of what my reaction would be), he said, “I’m not the one you have to worry about. It’s my wife. I mean, I’m her Dad and I wouldn’t even cut her hair without asking Kelly first.” At which point, a sudden “uh oh” look came over the caregivers. They apologized a few more times before Jon left.
And that’s when I got the phone call. I was driving home from work and Jon says, “Guess what Lilla got today at Daycare?” Immediately I think, “Great, she’s sick again.” So I say, “I don’t know, the flu?” Jon chuckles and says, “Nope, a haircut.” And then I lose it. I mean, lose it lose it. “That was her first BLEEP haircut!!! We have BLEEP holiday pictures on Sunday!!! That is not their BLEEP call!!!!” I was. so. mad. I asked Jon what she looked like. His response? “Well, yep, she pretty much has a mullet.” Awesome.
Fifteen minutes later I walk in the front door. Lilla’s as happy as can be as she comes running my way with her new fangled mullet. Full on mullet I tell you. The Russian Butcher gave her straight up blunt bangs. Since she didn’t touch the back, Lilla’s first haircut screams “business in the front, party in the back.”
I decide I can’t wait til Monday to give Daycare a piece of my mind. I call them up.
“Hi, this is Kelly Rodgers.”
With trepidation, “Oh hi Kelly.”
“I am really upset you cut Lilla’s hair.”
“I know, we so sorry, we so sorry.”
“That was her first haircut. I wanted to be there for that.”
“A thousand apologies. A thousand apologies.”
“It’s not like we didn’t get around to cutting her hair. I purposely wasn’t cutting it because she’s a girl and wanted to grow it out.”
“I tell her, ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do this.’ She not know. She new.”
“Did you at least save any of it?”
“Save it?”
“Yes, the hair. You know, so I can put it in her baby book?”
“Uhhh, no. We throw it way.”
“Awesome. Well, I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to any other kids.”
“No, it will not. She know now. We so sorry Kelly.”
Well she definitely knows now. The following Monday, the Russian Butcher personally apologized. That earned her some points back. In my anger, I threatened to pull her out of that Daycare. But after calming myself down (with ample glasses of Pinot Noir), we realized it was merely a mistake. A stupid one. But Lilla really does love it there. And they treat her so well. She wasn’t hurt. In fact, she was her usual cheery self and had no idea what was going on.
Luckily for us, there was a monsoon in the bay area that weekend and our holiday pictures were rescheduled for the week after. So Lilla’s mullet had some time to grow. And seeing that it’s been almost 2 months since “the incident”, her hair is getting back to where it was. She’ll still have a first haircut in a salon with an actual hairstylist and me looking on with a camera. But she’ll also have a great story to tell when she’s older–the day she had a run-in with the Russian Butcher.
Below are shots of our holiday pics and one pic from the night of “the incident.” Enjoy!
thelillapad 
Love those pics!!
Kelly, did you have to have some more Pinot Noir retelling this story!! Lilla looked so happy after the Russian butcher incident. Entertaining to read. XO Nance & Dad