My son is a specific kind of child. He’s curious and needs to know how things work and what to expect. I’ve worked with and been around a lot of children and his sensitivities seem a little more than any “regular” childhood curiosity. It’s like a burning need to know and figure it out so that he feels safe. We try to provide it to him when we can, and I love learning alongside him when his questions become too much for my fully developed brain to answer. When something is unknown or different or a big change, humans tend to feel uneasy. Multiply that by a large number and that’s what I believe is happening in my guy’s head and body. And while I know the world isn’t set up to meet every need of a sensitive person, I also know that giving him the tools to function inside the unknown and the change is a big responsibility that we as a family strive to make happen.
His processing happens in spurts. Big, huge emotions come out first, followed by a time of quiet, internal reflection and then back out with the next tier of emotion and hopefully understanding. I’ll give you an example. One in which, knowing my son as I do, I should have anticipated going some kind of way…So, this kid has the most gorgeous head of hair. Thick, blonde, kissed by the sun highlights. He hadn’t had a haircut in over 6 months and sweeping it out of his eyes had been bothering him for some time. Then, it was bothering him in his snowboard helmet because it’s like a helmet all on its own and he was sweating like crazy. Then it was too long over his ears and he couldn’t stand the feeling when he put headphones on for a recent road trip. He finally became so fed up, he demanded a haircut. Knowing his sensory challenges, we talked about what kind of cut he may want and what it would entail at the barber shop.
We went through pictures of him and he chose one specific haircut that one specific barber had provided for him once. He liked the front, sides and back and knowing the buzzer would be needed, he bravely said that’s fine and it’s what he wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. He was set. So off to that specific barber we go, show him the picture of the cut he had completed 7 months before. And he got to work. Now, think of when you have had a drastic cut, maybe they took off more than you wished, maybe you had been growing it for so long and weren’t truly ready for the amount falling to the floor, maybe the stylist did as you asked when you wished for “side sweep bangs” yet you looked at yourself in the mirror in horror. “What have I done?!”
Again, multiply that by a large number. And that’s the level you’ll get when my boy watched his long, thick locks plummet to the ground in big chunks, transforming to a head and face very different from what he was used to seeing and feeling.
He was polite to the barber, said thank you and immediately insisted we get the hell out of there. “I am ready to GO!” he whisper-growled and tugged at my jacket while I was paying (and heavily tipping the sweet barber who put up with the whining of “are we finished yet?” for the last ten minutes of the cut.)
The moment we were out of earshot (a whole other lesson he is doing so well with!) came the complaint, “I hate it. It’s the worst haircut I’ve ever had. I am never coming back here.”
Do what, you ask? Oh, why just do the EXACT cut from the picture that MY SON chose and ASKED FOR.
I felt so bad for him, he really was so thrown off and unhappy. In my heart I knew it would pass, he has to get the big emotions and big phrases out first. It's unknown, it’s different, it’s a huge change from what he saw in the mirror mere hours before.
The whole ride home was a slew of “this is the worst” comments and complaints. In these moments there is no calming him down or helping him settle. It’s how he processes. No reminding him that HE chose the cut, not from a model or picture of a friend, but from his own head. As I often try to remember to do, I acknowledged his disappointment and asked him calmly if there was anything I could do to help him feel better. No, of course not. But I did try some consoling tactics which every once in a while may, kinda, maybe help him…by sharing that there were more than a few times in my life I left the salon feeling just as he did right then (did I mention the bangs?) I said it’s actually pretty common and the best part about it is that hair grows, no haircut is permanent. And his hair, in particular, grows pretty quickly.
He told me he wouldn’t leave the house until it grew. He started doing the math of the next class or event we had and asked if it would be better in x amount of days. I said you never know, sometimes when you go home and style it yourself, you may look at yourself in the mirror and get used to it quicker than you think. He softened a bit, while still insisting it was the worst and he was never leaving the house or going back to that barber.
I absorbed all the negativity, bit my tongue trying any harder to fix it as we finished the drive home. A little while later, I headed out for a few solo errands. When I came home and began unloading groceries, he swooped into the kitchen and said, “Mom, I don’t actually hate my haircut. I think it’s cool.” I said "well that’s great!” And all the heavy emotion he poured on me lifted, as it always does, once he has had time to process.
This was a big change, he doesn’t often handle big changes easily, but he does handle them. In his own way, and in his own time. He has to waiver between the huge and manageable emotions for a bit before coming to a conclusion or resolution. Giving him the time and space he needs to process is huge. If I were to have said “suck it up, it’s just a haircut, get over it, stop whining, stop complaining, what do you want ME to do about it?! YOU asked for this…” or any of the number of things an adult could have said to try and shut him up, what kind of lesson would that teach him? Wouldn’t shutting him up just shut him down? I think so. Would he learn his feelings aren’t valid? That it was his fault he was feeling uncomfortable? Everyone feels uncomfortable sometimes, get over it. He’s not allowed to complain when it’s something he asked for?
Those aren’t lessons I want him to grow into. And while it’s not the easy way to parent, I do think it’s important. Just as important as me letting go of the negativity I absorb in his moments of managing his own feelings. I am not a perfect parent, and I am always learning, I’ve only been in the game for 11 years. I know I will continue to learn and will continue to gain a better understanding of my kids and myself through the adventure of parenting. Just popping in to say we made it through another little storm that felt like a hurricane to my boy. Hoping weathering more and more storms like this help him identify which need to be treated as big storms and which are just a drizzle he can more easily navigate. Here’s to hoping for the drizzle and also knowing we can help him learn how to weather the true Category 5’s.