The internet recently went all out in support of the parents who discovered their daughter's hair was cut for the first time while at childcare.
And I can completely understand. I found my children's first haircuts to be strongly emotional experiences – even when I was the one who had decided it was time.
I'm not alone in finding there is a powerful symbolism in a baby's first haircut. Friends of mine have found themselves in tears, and many cultures have strong beliefs and rituals associated with a child's first haircut.
I put off my daughter's first haircut as long as possible, then cried before, during and after. I honestly don't know why. The best I can do to explain my reaction is that there is a poignancy about the act of cutting something so soft and exquisite (except perhaps when it has pureed pumpkin mushed in it!).
A haircut is a true symbol of growing up – and, as all parents discover, every milestone in their child's life becomes a focus for celebration, as well as sadness for what is no more.
My daughter's haircut was done by a hairdresser. I found myself wanting to pull her back from the chair and let her hair grow forever without being touched by anything as brutal as a pair of scissors. And after the deed was done, even though she looked so sweet with a little fringe rather than a flop of hair over her eyes, I cried.
I was calmer in the lead-up to my second-born's first haircut. I feared that this was part of the good-old 'second-born syndrome', where everything is less monumental and milestones come and go with much less drama. And as much as I hate to admit it, it could also have been because he is a boy.
I chose to cut my son's hair myself rather than going to a hairdresser. This was partly for simple efficiency (with a baby and toddler, who has time to go to a hairdresser?) but also because I hoped I might cope better emotionally if I was in control.
My son was happily distracted during the event, thanks to my husband waving food in strategic directions, and I admit I did a pretty neat job. I even remembered, just in time, to take before- and after-photos for his baby book. I did feel emotion, but wasn't even close to tears. "Hah, I've got this first haircut business sorted," I thought to myself.
I definitely thought that too soon. A couple of weeks later, when I printed the before- and after-photos, I realised just how grown-up his haircut made him look. Forget him being a second child, a boy, and me having been the haircutter – the full emotion of my baby's first haircut flooded in and I unashamedly sobbed.
So I totally get how those parents were in disbelief when they picked up their daughter to find her first haircut had been performed without consultation, even putting aside the serious issues of trust and boundaries at stake.
Because however trivial it may seem to an outsider, a child's first haircut is a significant event.