Cutting...paper, not hair!

When we bought the scissors, I didn't expect her to love them so much. She loves cutting on straight and curvy lines, chopping paper into miniscule little pieces, and then using the dustpan and hand broom to sweep them up. I am really trying to help her develop a dominant hand, her right, since she shows absolutely no preference for coloring, eating, or sucking her thumb. Once I showed her how to hold the scissors, she always has tried to use her right hand. Yesterday we cut out a yellow circle, drew a lion's face on it with crayons, glued it to a paper plate and cut out about 15 strips of paper to attach for his mane. Yes, I once taught Kindergarten, ages ago. She loved it and stayed with the task until it was complete.

Today, though, I noticed that her bangs were hanging down in her eyes...I bet you can already guess where this is headed...As soon as I got out my large scissors, she said, "Gracie cutting" and tried to grab the scissors. I told her, "No!" and explained that Mommy cuts hair, not Gracie. Even though she was disappointed she told me, "Gracie no cut hair." When she started using her scissors, though, I kept a watchful eye. She was great. You knew she was thinking about it when she kept telling me, "Mommy cut hair, Gracie no. Gracie cut paper."

It wasn't until Mark came home from work that she appeared proudly from the bathroom saying, "Gracie beautiful" and holding the scissors up in the air with a devious smile. We knew immediately and the chunk of hair on the bathroom floor was proof. It isn't very noticeable, though. She just has a few short layers on top now.

We sat her on the couch and she did her usual head hanging routine. We took her scissors and put them away out of her reach and told her that she couldn't have her scissors now because she cut her hair. After about 5 minutes she told us, "Grace cut hair. I sorry," and gave this huge forced grin with her arms stretched out. We hugged her, of course. Then she asked, "Where scissors?" and we told her that Gracie didn't get scissors because she cut hair. When it finally sunk in, a tear rolled down her face and I thought I would have to tie Mark up in the other room to keep him from giving in to those sad eyes. Mom is an old pro at ignoring those begging eyes...

Maybe we will try cutting paper with scissors, tomorrow...at least that is what Gracie keeps telling us. "Scissors, ootray. Gracie no cutting hair."