Like Father, Like Son

I walked into the room and the 6-year-old greeted me by saying, “do you make bald people?”

Upon entering a room I’ve been struck square in the face by a handful of objects (Nerf darts, flying pillows, balled up socks) so this wasn’t the most unexpected welcome I’d ever received but it was up there.

I could tell he had just received a haircut, crew cut style, and asked him about it. He said Mom had given him a haircut but he wanted me to do it. Because he wants to be bald. I laughed and thought about telling him to wait 20 years and that problem would solve itself. But I didn’t.

Even though the joke would have gone right over his wispy blond head, I couldn’t bring myself to make a joke at the expense of his earnestness to be like me. It’s a running joke when my wife gives the boys haircuts that one (or several) of the older boys say, “don’t cut it like Dad’s.”

For them, I’ll look closely at their hair, run my hand across the top of my head and say, “I used to have hair like that too. Better enjoy it while you got it.”

But the 6-year-old, for at least two years now, has been requesting Mom cut his hair, “like Dad’s.” And he truly means it. There will come a time (all too soon) when I’m no longer his hero, but at this point he just wants to be like dad – bald head and all.

You can never overestimate the power of a young boy wanting to be like his dad. I’ve seen 3-year-olds walk into a room, see that I’m wearing jeans, and then run back to change into jeans to be “like dad.” If I take off my shirt doing yardwork, I have anywhere from one to four shirtless boys assisting or pretend mowing behind me. If I say blue is my favorite color, I hear a chorus of, “mine too!”

So, as surprising as it may seem at first, giving the 6-year-old a shave would really be granting him a wish. And seeing as his quickly approaching the end of this phase, I may have to grant him this wish soon.

The good thing is, it’s not like I could mess it up. When I tried to give the then 12-year-old a haircut last year, it was a disaster, and I learned I don’t have the barbering gene. Which I should have known seeing as my dad infamously agreed to give me a mohawk haircut when I was 11 and proceeded to accidentally give me a reverse mohawk. True story.

He fixed it by shaving my head (which was unequivocally an improvement) and 11-year-old me sported a completely bald pate to our family reunion. I should probably show the 6-year-old those pictures before making him bald.

But even then, I suspect his request will stay the same. Because then he could be just like dad was when he was a kid.