A dad went to extreme lengths after his daughter refused to brush her hair – a move which left his family saying he was going to ‘ruin’ her and that he needed to take parenting classes
A dad decided to teach his daughter a lesson by cutting her waist-length hair short, but his plan backfired.
It can be hard to navigate life as a single dad, and ultimately it’s up to each parent to decide on what rules their child has to stick to. The father explained he had a battle with his seven year-old daughter every morning, as she refused to brush or take care of her long hair, which was “almost down to her belly button”.
He decided to give her an ultimatum – if she didn’t start brushing it at least twice a day, she would need to cut it shorter. This was important, he explained, because she needed to “take responsibly for her cleanliness”. Despite his pleas she didn’t show any interest, so he went ahead with his plan – which resulted in his family being so upset they said he needed to take parenting classes and his daughter crying non-stop for hours.
In a post on Reddit, the dad explained: “Over the last few years I’ve talked to her about how people with long hair need to take care of it. I’ve been trying to get her to start brushing it for a couple of years. She puts no effort into it puts the brush down and wanders off to play games and this is where the argument comes in.
“I can’t ever seem to get her to take care of it. I’ve warned her over the last year that if she doesn’t start brushing her hair at least twice a day, we’re getting it cut shorter. I’ve talked to her mum about it and she agreed that I can get it cut if she doesn’t take responsibility for her cleanliness.”
As a man with long hair himself, which reaches past his chest, he even tried showing her how he takes care of it. Brushing from the bottom and slowly up, the way he wanted his daughter to copy but after another morning argument, he lost it and cut her hair.
He said: “I did it. I cut her hair to about an inch below her shoulders. She was devastated and continued to cry for another hour as I drove her to my parent’s place to watch her as I went to work. My mother and my sister both got very upset with me.
“My mom told me I’m going to ruin my daughter if I don’t start taking parenting classes and that cutting her hair was completely unnecessary.”
And it seems the majority of people in the Reddit post comments agreed with his mum and sister, saying he went about it in the wrong way and that a haircut should be ‘a positive thing’.
As one reader said: “I understand why you did it, but I think you went about it in a bad way. I’ve been in your shoes. I’m still in your shoes, my daughter is 10 and I still help brush her hair. I would go into or call a salon and ask for tips, or look for a mom group on Facebook and explain. They will be all over helping a single dad navigate girl’s hair.”
Another commenter agreed: “Yeah, cutting her hair as a punishment is devastating. Frankly, it’s your job to take care of her hair at 7 years old and to continue helping her learn to do it and not expect perfection.”
Out of the 229 comments, there were only a few who agreed with the dad’s decision, as one reader said: “I’m going against the grain here and saying I would have done a haircut also. If she can’t handle it, she might not be ready for long hair.”
In an update to the post, the man confirmed he would “never cut her her again,” adding: “I have apologised to her already, but she seems to have bounced back already. She’s not upset anymore. I guess the initial trauma struck her hard this morning.”
A version of this story was first published on September 30 2023.
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