The skater hair style has become the newest look for boys. You know the one: the non-haircut where the hair is shaggy enough to cover the forehead and eyes, and scrunches over the ears under a baseball cap or beanie, but isn’t quite long enough to touch the shoulders. It’s like every boy in Sonoma County has decided that their level of coolness is directly affected by how messy they can look.

I have always kept my son’s hair short. There is nothing easier than running a #4 grade over the top of his head, then tapering down to an even fade. His haircuts take all of five minutes, and are incredibly inexpensive (hey, what’s cheaper than free?). But it was one day that I openly mused about how the skater look might look on him that I ruined it all. My son refused to let me near him with the clippers.

At first it wasn’t so bad. I had cut it so short that it took awhile for any difference to be noticed. But then it started to stick straight out at every side, kind of like a dandelion. I begged him, pleaded with him, let me cut it! But he wouldn’t let me. And I give my kids freedom (within reason) with their hair, so I didn’t force the issue. But still, I was so tempted to just wait till he was asleep and shave it all off.

A little more time passed, and his hair started to calm down. It actually started to look good. He began to lose that young innocence he had with the buzz cut, and started to look older and more mature. His hair stayed blonde on top, having been bleached by the sun, while the roots stayed dark. It gave his hair a highlighted look that people pay money for. He looked good.

But then his hair grew more. And it became so shaggy I couldn’t handle it. I finally convinced him to let me just trim his hair. And when he wasn’t looking, I shaved it all off. Just kidding. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes (kidding again), and started to trim his hair lock by lock. The end result amazed even me. I mean, I’ve been known to cut my daughter’s hair into the shape of our mildewing mop-head in the backyard. But this was actually pretty even. It looked like I even paid to have this done. Not like I paid a lot, mind you, but like I paid something. And the hair was growing on me. I couldn’t really imagine him with his old style. It suited him. Suddenly he was just like all the other kids in his class with the skater non-haircut.

But skater hair is hard to maintain. You cannot just roll out of bed and have it look that shaggy without putting some effort into it. There is a big difference between the real bed-head my son was waking up with every morning and the wind tousled hair every other kid seemed to have. I had to have my son take showers every morning. Then I would brush his hair straight before taking my fingers and messing it up again. If there was no time to shower, conditioning spray had to do. And let me tell you, conditioning spray is no match for an unruly cowlick.

This morning I took one look at his hair and mentioned that he needed another trim. And he groaned into his cereal at the idea. And I mused out loud about what it might look like if I shaved it all off. Suddenly my son perked up and agreed, saying he was tired of the morning showers, the hair brushing, the bed-head, and the way his hair made his head hurt under hats. And I wished I had kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to buzz it, what if he had outgrown that look? But he was adamant. And I finally agreed, this evening we would do it.

After baseball practice he hadn’t forgotten. I made him strip to his underwear. I took the scissors and hacked away at his hair, trying to get rid of some of the foliage before finally shearing it all off. I had to re-grease the clippers twice as bundles of hair fell in thick locks. A small hill was forming at his heels as I made him look down, tilt his head to the right, tilt to the left, look down again. And I shaped the top with the scissors, knicking my knuckle more than anything else. And soon we were done. He ran his hand over the back of his head slowly before looking up in the mirror. And the grin on his face grew. He loved it. The last bits of blonde lay on the floor amidst brown. The hair on his head was completely dark. And it was so short. He looked very handsome, very clean-cut and innocent once again.

And I do love the new hair. It might even make his teacher forget any trouble he’s caused in the classroom since he looks so sweet. But it’s ironic that I miss the old hair. I mean, yeah, he will look great on the baseball field. But can he still skateboard with a buzz cut?