There are some things that are just bad ideas. You shouldn't mix fish sticks and Froot Loops. You probably shouldn't bring your new boyfriend with a face tattoo home to meet your parents after two weeks of dating.
And kids should never, under any circumstances, be left unsupervised with scissors.
Chris Cate, a father of three, learned that lesson the hard way. Don't worry: No children were injured in this lesson. But a great many hair follicles were sacrificed. RIP.
Chris' 9-year-old daughter Ava decided to take it upon herself to give little brothers Cameron and Colton haircuts, just in time for back-to-school pictures. No one is sure what motivated this sudden burst of creativity. Maybe Ava decided she wants to be a stylist when she grows up? Perhaps she was trying to save her parents a trip to the salon? We might never know — but we do know that these chop jobs are the stuff of parental nightmares.
Here's the story according to Chris.
It's kind of like getting into a traumatic car accident — you understand the danger but don't think that it will ever happen to you. Luckily, this was nowhere near as serious as that.
As you can see, Ava needs some serious training before taking her salon skills to the pro level.
We think she must have been going for a rock-star look here, super close on the sides but long on top. E for effort.
OK, Ava listen: You can't just take random chunks out in the middle of the head. Perhaps she was going for an avant garde do here?
It's only funny when it's not your kids! But it is. It is funny.
Thankfully, both Chris and the Facebook commenters are all having fun with it.
Looks fine. Nothing to see here.
Other parents jumped to action and immediately made sure all sharp objects were locked up and out of reach of the kids!
But hey, it could have been worse.
Parents who have been there took to the internet to share the unique problems they deal with as well. For instance, this kid's teeth are all apparently in cahoots to ensure he never takes a good back-to-school photo, ever.
It's good that these two at least know that, one day, this is definitely going to happen to them. Preparation is half the battle.
It seems there are amateur stylists taking back-to-school haircuts into their own hands around the country.
As hilarious as all this is, the solution wasn't complicated.
One commenter was kind enough to point Chris in the right direction. It's all about damage control.
Chris uploaded this clip of the repair process. (Almost) good as new!
So it was a misadventure that everyone involved probably wished had never happened, but it's not all bad:
We all got a good laugh out of it, but perhaps most importantly…
That family will be telling this story for years to come!
