Cutting with scissors

A few days ago I was out with my son Zeve looking for a very specific version of a religious text that he needed for school. During the summer his school had been selling them but, as you know, we were off in the highlands of Scotland having a wonderful time and by the time we returned to Israel, all of the copies of the book were gone.

It's not like we couldn't get a copy of the book. Religious texts are available everywhere you turn -- this IS Israel, not suburban Alaska. The issue was that we wanted the same one that all the other kids in the class would be using. As a result, Zeve and I went out in search of the book.

As usual, the moment I left the house my cell phone started to ring. And as usual, it was Yael. I think she does it to drive me crazy. According to her, every time she calls it's an emergency.

Either way, she has created sort of a Crying Wolf situation which has resulted in me frequently ignoring her calls.

So this past week while Zeve and I were out scouring the city for a very specific version of a book he needed for school the next day, my cell phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing. And I kept ignoring it and ignoring it and ignoring it. I was busy on a mission of biblical proportion.

Okay, so we look everywhere for the book and we can't find it. We decide to go home and start calling around to older kids who might have had the book and don't need it anymore. And that's when things got interesting.

We walked into the house and there is Yael with her newly cut hair. Her bangs were now approximately a centimeter in length. They were sort of like the girl in the movie "Amelie" but scarier and definitely not as neatly done. She looked like Spikezilla and it was most upsetting because she is a cute little thing.

I almost fell off my feet when I saw her. I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or to scream. Worst of all I had to stay composed and act like it wasn't the catastrophe I thought it was. I mean, it could have been worse ... she was breathing and she had all of her important body parts (she was only short of hair).

This isn't the first time she has pulled this stunt. I had forgotten about the first time until one of my friends reminded me about it today after she noticed Yael's new do. The first time she decided to cut her hair herself, she had started on the sides but stopped at the back because she couldn't see what she was doing. I really thought she had learned her lesson after that scissor adventure but apparently not.

Therefore, to prevent anymore hair scares I have made a mental note to collect all the scissors in the house and hide them somewhere until she is old enough -- and vain enough -- to choose professional help when she needs it.