As the story goes, I was four years old before I let a barber cut my hair. Not that my parents didn’t try. I saw my dad get his haircut many times but was never persuaded to go under the blade. I saw other little kids get their hair cut but that wasn’t going to be me. No, I would throw a tantrum anytime it came time for me to get a haircut. It wasn’t until someone called me a “little girl” and my father explained to my indignant self that the reason I was mistaken for a girl was because I had long hair. Not long after that, I had my first hair cut.

Which is why I did not have high hopes for today.

Today, we took our kids to the local mall where there is a kiddie salon. In all likelihood, we won’t be taking our kids there on a regular basis but for their first cut, we thought it would be a good place to start. So we sauntered into the little salon and were quickly ushered to a waiting police car.

TheMonk, being of a calmer disposition, went first. The only instruction? Save the curls on the back of the head. While the stylist snipped away, TheMonk steered his police cruiser through the neighborhood – only occasionally stopping to check out what the woman was doing to his hair. When done, we were given instructions on how to comb the back of his head to keep him from looking like Billy Ray Cyrus and we were done.

But we weren’t really done. Swee’Pea awaited her turn. She has been shy lately when in the presence of strangers and we were unsure on how she would react. It turns out, if you put the girl in a police cruiser and hand her a purple-headed doll, she’s good to go. Not a peep was heard from Swee’Pea and she had her bangs trimmed and her wispy hair tamed. She was even given her first ponytail on the top of her cute little head.

And there you have it. Another milestone that reminds me that my little babies are not so little anymore. I am left with a lock of their hair and memories of kissing little bald heads while holding their tiny bodies in my arms. I look at them now and I see a little boy and a little girl who still have their daddy’s heart if a little less hair.