Vanity?

“Life is like a mirror: we get the best results when we smile at it” – Anonymous.

Z’s hair is getting long and she needs a haircut soon. I love the haircut salon at Pig Tails and Crew Cuts, a kiddy salon. The kids get to sit in toy airplanes, cars, fire engines, etc to get their hair cut. And at the same time, they get to eat animal crackers and have a TV up in front of them. Lucky kids.

I’ve been to non-kids-salons where the stylist falters with every bounce that Z does, and gives me a nervous look when Z begins to flip out. I’ve also had my cousin bring a bouncy ball into a plush salon in Karachi and bounce it vigorously to distract Z. It was quite entertaining and we had an audience at the end and a customer who jumped in to help by holding Z down.

For these reasons, I take Z to the kiddy salon where there is a wooden train set to greet you at the door, sofas for the superheroes aka moms to sit at, and a toy room for the kids to play in while they wait, anddd also a treasure chest that Z gets to visit post-haircut to retrieve a coveted sticker or beaded necklace.

Z still bounces when she gets haircuts and cries a little, but is tamer now. Maybe it’s because of the big mirror in front of her, or because she likes the results. To do Z’s hair, I usually plonk her down, give her a clicky clip to play with, and then quickly make pony tails, braids, or clip her hair back. Once one ponytail is made, Z will jump up from my lap, and run over to the mirror and smile at herself, while shaking her hair vigorously to see how far she can make her hair swish.

I am partly to blame for this mirror vanity. As a reward for sitting still, Z would get to see herself in the mirror. Now as a result, Z will often run to the mirror when she’s wearing an outfit she likes (this can be from something fancy to plain old pajamas), and she proudly smiles in front of it.

I thought I should break her of the mirror habit – I don’t want her to grow vain – but there is a mirror prayer you can make when you look into a mirror, so will redirect Z’s vanity into a learning experience. Plus, how else am I going to be able to do Z’s hair?

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ حَسَّنْتَ خَلْقِي فَحَسِّنْ خُلُقِي

“O God, just as You have made my external features beautiful, make my character beautiful as well”.

Btw, the below hair style I cannot take credit for: the talented hairstylists at the Pigtails Salon are amazing and manage to do the coolest styles to a bouncy, wriggly, squirmy toddler: see below!

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