Some time ago, my wife bought me a “toy barbershop kit” to give to the kids. I promptly forgot about it until the other day, when I discovered it in the cabinet underneath the bathroom sink.

When I brought it out for the boys, they were thrilled. They sat me down on a beanbag chair on the floor and went to work. C (the five year old) stood behind me and worked on my hair using the toy plastic scissors, trimmers, and comb.

Meanwhile, his little brother dug through the bag to find other things to work with. There were lots of colorful plastic bottles, presumably imitating the various gels and goos that hairdressers use. He sorted through these, trying to decide what each one was and what it should do.

After a fair amount of time, C decided he was done. He pulled out the little barber mirror and held it in front of me.

“Look,” he said. I looked, but before I could say anything, he spoke up again. “You look good, but you don’t look as good as I do.”

Hmph. Just what kind of barber is this anyway?

As I was sorting that out with him, his little brother piped up. He had finally gotten all of his bottles in order. “Okay! I’m going to color your hair!”

What?

“Your hair! I’m going to color your hair brown”

My hair already is brown.

“Not all of it.” He said.

Okay, then. I think it’s time to put the barber shop back under the sink.