I’ve been known to like long hair on my boys.
I’m no good at boy hair or boy haircuts. I just always repeat my mantra, not too short and not straight across. Last summer, I scheduled a haircut for Ryan the week of my sister’s wedding at our local barber shop, where Rob always gives Ryan a good haircut and a little gel for a slick dose of cool. Except in this case, he pretty much scalped him. Now, our barber shop is not exactly a place designed for kids (or their moms). And, in this case, I happened to bring my mother along. I’m pretty sure Rob won’t forget the day he turned my five year old into a marine on the eve of my sister’s wedding while my mother watched. No one likes being yelled at by my mom.
You might wonder if the haircut inspired the backpack choice? That was an accidental purchase: the result of a very last minute shopping trip with Ryan the night before camp began, at, of all places, Burlington Coat Factory. His “summer cut” this year was a tad longer (still Rob) and the camo backpack is still kicking, though thankfully close to retirement as the inner lining has completely peeled off.
I am proud of Ryan’s military pride, but I did a little pre-shopping this year on a backpack for Ryan for kindergarten.
A natural choice for my superhero lover would have been one of these from Pottery Barn Kids. Sturdy and fully loaded; but I’d hate for Ryan to outgrow the superhero before the bag.
Or this modern take on Angry Birds at Old Navy. I liked the modern print (for a character backpack anyway) and the price ($18), but its a bit small and well, angry.
One of my favorites for back-to-school jeans and soft tees, often with the characters Ryan likes and the modern/cute look I favor, H&M has this colorful $15 explorer pack in their fall line (and 20% off all kids’ clothes through August 12th).
I liked the prints on these packs from Lands’ End and shared them with Ryan.
Ryan (and Dad) — both smitten with bungees – fell for a simple gray & orange bungee-clad number in the Lands’ End line at Sears.
I couldn’t help but notice the Land’s End choices for girls.
What pack will you go with this year? Kid-choice or parent?
Check back on Friday for a fun and easy t-shirt craft (Ryan’s is military-inspired).
A combo of parent + kid choice. We’re starting kindergarten and I want something that will last, and that he will still want to use when he’s older. Reviews indicate the LL Bean packs will last into middle school! So I’m going with the LL Bean critter backpack or original book pack, narrowing down to a few pattern/color choices that I think will still be appropriate when he’s in 6th grade and letting him choose from those options. And then using my accumulated LL Bean credit card points to buy it for FREE!
Your post brought back so many memories of haircuts with my boys. At times, I thought I was going to pull my hair out but now I just look back and smile.
Our LL Bean pink backpack would have lasted until middle school if my daughter had not outgrown her love of pink. The packs are great and they take a beating. We are still waiting for the tolerance of pink to return…..we now own dark blue
and hoping it will make it to highschool.
I LOVE cutting Gray’s hair. Mainly because it’s never too short or straight across the front (kids’ hairdresser made that mistake and it cost me $50) and for the other obvious reason, I save $50. After sitting and watching my “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy” Todd (Edris Salon) for years cut mine and others, I’ve finally mastered a kid’s designer do (with cute sideburns and all). Let me know when you want to sit in my chair and try out my new scissors! Haha. P.s. We went with Pottery Barn Kids (Blue Robot) toddler combo backpack with the lunch cooler at the base.
I did not yell at Rob. I asked him politely to STOP. It does seem funny now but really, four days before the wedding. The problem was Rob thought Ryan hadn’t been there for 4 months when it had been 6 weeks and so he cut it close to the scalp. Even when we said ,”Just a little.” Fortunately boys don’t care. My oldest daughter is still mad at me for cutting her bangs too short when she was thirty years ago.