Call from nursery : your daughter's hair has been cut off

[emoo777]

DD is 3 1/2 and we have been growing her lovely blonde hair, so that it was easy to put into a ponytail. I have just had a call from nursery to say the children were 'playing hairdressers' and before they saw what was happening her hair had been massively cut off. It was several inches below her neck and now apparentely can't be put into a ponytail and they suggested I book a hair appointment to even it up!?? WTF?! 3 year olds with scissors and not properly supervised? I haven't seen it yet as I have to work ahead of picking up the children. I can't work though as am furious - I don't know whether to cry or shout. What do I say to them when I pick her up? Surely this shouldn't have happened?
Help!!!
xx

To all the people saying that hair grows back and these things happen - how would you feel if someone came along and hacked off your hair?
I don't think you would be saying the same things then.

Of course I'd be upset - but kids are kids and if her friend hadn't had done it I'm sure she would have done it herself eventually!

I understand the concerns about lack of supervision etc and of course initially it is upsetting - but trust me, it will soon be a funny story to tell.

To all the people saying that hair grows back and these things happen - how would you feel if someone came along and hacked off your hair?
I don't think you would be saying the same things then.

My main concern would be, why the hell were 3 year olds left with sissors sharp enough to cut hair! As for her hair, it will grow, calm down, and have a

Cutting off hair is the work of seconds. No one can supervise children that closely. It is hair. It grows back. My eldest DD 1 was murdered. No come back from that. D2 had her hair cut off at age 3 by her cousin. It grew. You all need to calm down.

It's very easy to cut hair with round-ended safety scissors.

However, it's very hard to stab someone or poke their eye out, because the ends are blunt. So the safety issue is a red herring, really.

And I can well imagine an incident like that going un-noticed, if they were playing happily and quietly in a corner. It wouldn't take all that long if they cut off the whole ponytail at once . DD1 had two similar haircuts when she was a similar age - one at the hands of her little sister and one when she decided she didn't want a fringe any more ...

Sorry but I would be livid!

I agree littlewhite, its only hair, its not her life

Maybe if it is OFSTED that are saying that the scissors that are supposed to be available at all times then you should be complaining to OFSTED that this is a ridiculous rule when there isn't enough supervision to ensure that situations like this don't occur. Particularly with metal scissors. I know that plastic paper scissors can cut through hair but it usually takes a lot more effort than using metal ones.

if they are the ones saying that 'parent's don't mind' and they 'understand' but most parents on here seem to be saying that they understand how it happens but they don't like it and would much prefer if it didn't happen. And that yes, whilst it was only hair that got cut this time, it got severely and badly cut by the sound of it, but it could have been so much worse - what if they had stabbed in her eye or cut across the top of her ear? If enough parents complain then maybe they will realise how wrong this guideline is for this age group.

If scissors were kept even up a couple of shelves up, the dc could ask for them whenever they wanted them - then the staff would know there were scissors on the loose and keep an eye out of the back of their head on them. Wouldn't stop all these accidents happening but would certainly help. and would make the kids realise that just because they can cut something they shouldn't always - they could just have easily been cutting up the curtains or a toy or clothes - which would also be incredibly annoying.

Of course what wouldn't be annoying is if the OFSTED inspector had their bag or coat chopped to pieces by a child that got hold of sharp scissors because OFSTED say you can't put the scissors away and all the adults in the room were busy doing other stuff and being kept busy by the ofsted inspection

What littlewhitebag said. And there's no implication that she wasn't perfectly happy to let this happen. In fact if you can catch a reluctant 3yo and 'hack' off their hair without them wanting you to then I award you the Mumsnet prize for speed, strength and agility.

Op - you said yourself that you cut off someone's plait when you were 6 (and should have known better at that age surely?).

This comes up every few months on Mumsnet - you all know how low the ratios are in childcare - this sort of thing will happen. No child is going to be supervised 100% of the time.

Read littlewhitebag's point to see what really matters and get a grip.

Hair will grow back.

hetienne - no, no scissors, no pencils, no pens, no chalk, no dolls with sticky out arms or legs, no toy cranes, no toy utensils, no ... in fact, lets just stick to ... well... an empty room?

Safeguarding/calling the authorities/withdrawing from the nursery/climbing out of windows... I have a HUGE pile of Grips, please help yourselves.

Emoo It's upsetting when it's your child who has had their beautiful hair lopped off :( but it will grow :)

And wtf is the obsession with girls having long hair here lately? Did we turn into the Pre-Raphaelites or something?

Starfish ridiculous analogy they are tiny and playing 3 year olds don't care how they look one of the fab things about being a pre schooler. Stop imputing adult emotions onto very young children. I would be worried if child had banged its head but hair cutting who cares?

littlewhitebag I am so sorry to hear about your DD1 :( x

I agree that it's only hair, it doesn't really matter although the shock of it must be awful. But I'd be very worried about the safely element, it might only take a few seconds to snip hair off but it would also only take a few seconds for a child to gouge another child's eye out. I'd be livid.

soverylucky - have you ever tried to closely supervise 8+ 3/4 year olds, in a classroom with home corners and book corners, while also trying to run activities or read stories? Sometimes, some of those children are not directly in your line of sight for minutes at a time.

If people are really saying that all they want in a nursery classroom is for children to be completely supervised at all times then we either need a lot more adults, or to stop free play and outdoor access and just have all the children doing the same activity with an adult at all times.

OP - has your dd said anything about her hair and whether or not she likes it now?

blimy op, just re read your post, the nursery wereu not encouraging children to play hairdressers like I first thought, but were playing hairdressers from their own volition. YABVVVVVVVVU, accidents happen, and hair will grow back, its
a right of passage to have hair accidently cut off, get a grip. I lopped off my own hair when I was 5, it grew back

My friend tells me of a birthday party she went to as a child. A child got hold of some scissors and every guest at the party got a haircut.........

At three and a half your DD is old enough to shout loudly or thump the other child if she didn't like having her hair cut so she probably enjoyed the game of hairdressers .

Actually at the pre-school my DS attended they regularly made the 'play house' into a Beauty Salon for role play.

wonder if she tipped the hairdresser.