It’s That Time of the Month Again…

...the time I dread above all others...HAIRCUT TIME!!

Remember my tutorial on how to cut boy’s hair?

That post has been pretty popular on Pinterest.  So, if you’re visiting from Pinterest and that pin, Welcome!  Pull up a chair and stick around!!

I cut hair again this weekend.  I cut all six of my guys’ hair.  So fun.  (please, sense the sarcasm…I don’t love cutting hair.  I just do it to save money.)

Don't get me wrong, I love a well groomed little boy, but the haircut process drives me CRAZY!! It makes a huge mess, and it is so hard to get their hair even with all that wiggling.

Then they get mad because I have to fix the part I messed up on when they wiggled. As they are crying, bits of hair land on their tongue and gets all over their mouth. That feels disgusting, so naturally they have to cry harder and spit the hair out. The tears and the spit mix with the hair clippings to make "hair mud" that is impossible to remove until they take a bath.

So, they endure the rest of their haircut sobbing, cursing their hairdresser and spitting, but holding still so they can take a bath.

The haircut process is kind of like an assembly line. I start with the youngest. As soon as he is finished with his haircut, the Hubsters carts him off to the bathtub while I start on the next youngest.

And so it goes until all of my little boys are groomed and cleaned. When they are finished, the Hubsters gets his haircut. What a blessed woman I am to be able to cut a head of hair without all the crying, wiggling, cursing and "hair mud!" Not once do I have to remind him that it is "statue time!" As soon as he is finished with his haircut, he heads up to take a shower while I clean up the mess of six haircuts.

After what seems like an eternity, that dreaded time of the month is over.

Almost.

I realize I am itchy and covered in hair. It takes all of my will power to not cry and spit and make another "hair mud" mess. I carefully walk to the bathroom for a shower so that I don't "shed" the hair clippings all over the carpet and have to vacuum when I am finished.

Finally, I make it into the shower only to realize that the hot water is gone.

Nice.

Nothing says, "Thanks for the haircut Mom! I love you!" like a nice cold shower after spending the last few hours wrestling little boys and being emotionally abused. ;)  Oh well. That time of the month is over and the end result is nice:

What a good lookin' kid!

I kid. Haircut day isn’t that bad, and it is nice to have some one on one time with my boys.

Have you tried my haircut tutorial?  What did you think?  Do you love saving all that money?  I’ll bet I’m saving close to a thousand dollars a year by enduring the haircuts and doing it my self.

How To: Cut a Little Boy’s Hair

I have five boys and a husband that all need haircuts every.single.month.

If I send them somewhere else to get their hair cut, I’d easily be spending $100 a month.  I decided a long, long, long time ago--when it was just The Hubsters and me--that I would learn to do it myself.  Back then, we were poor, starving, college students and we couldn’t even afford to have someone else cut my husband’s hair.

So I learned how to do it myself, and we’ve been saving money ever since.

Back in the college days, I even cut other people’s husband’s hair to save them a few bucks.

Ashlee’s older brother was one of those guys!  Good times!

Anyway, if you want to save some money and do it yourself, this is how you do it.  Keep in mind that I am self taught.

First, start off with a pair of good hair clippers.  Make sure they have a lot of different guards.  This is a good one, here, and it’s less than $20.00:

Okay.  Snag your first victim.  This is Crocky.  He is nine and in desperate need of a haircut.

I always start at the bottom and work my way up.

I’m going to start by cutting off that little tail with the clippers.  Don’t use a guard, but be very, very careful not to cut your victim.

Next, trim around the ears.

When you’ve trimmed around both ears and the sideburn area, go back to the bottom of the hairline.  Use the smallest guard (mine is #1) and trim up to where I’m pointing with the clippers.  Be sure to use this same guard to go around the ears, too. 

See how the cut line goes around the sides of the head, too?

No grab your next smallest guard.  It should be labeled #2.  Cut the back and sides of the hair up to this point:

Now use the #4 guard to taper the sides and back.  Cut about an inch and a half up from the last stopping point.

Now use the #6 guard to trim the remaining sides and top of the hair.  When you’re finished with that part, take the scissors and even up the front and any hairs you missed around the ears and neckline.

That’s it!  You’re done!

I like to cut my boys’ hair really short.  They hate combing their hair, and all five of them have crazy cowlicks.  Short works best for us.  So, starting from the bottom and working my way up, I used the guards 1,2,4, and 6.  Their hair is 3/4 of an inch long on top.  If you want to cut your guy’s hair longer than that, adjust your guards accordingly.  You could do 2,4,6, and 8 for a longer cut.  That would leave it 1 inch on top. 

If you want it any longer than that, you’re going to have to use your fingers and scissors on top.  That’s really easy, too.  Just be sure you make it even.  All you do is take a strip of hair between your pointer and middle finger and cut it the length you want it.  Move to a neighboring strip of hair and cut it the same length you did the last piece.  To make sure I do that, I always take a piece of the last strip to use as a guide for the next strip.  Make sense?

Well, there you go.  I hope you’ll be able to use this and save yourself a couple of bucks!