I had to take my 8-year-old stepdaughter and her 5-year-old half-sister over a non-custodial weekend because their mother had a family emergency and my husband was out of town. I literally only had an hour’s notice to prepare. I have tried very, very, very hard to build a civil relationship with my stepdaughter’s mother. She treats me somewhere between the hired help and the village idiot. I have held my tongue until now. I was making brunch when the girls got into the art supplies and found the safety scissors. My stepdaughter decided to give her sister a haircut by cutting off a pigtail. Cue the blood curdling scream. I ran upstairs to find the 5-year-old bawling and my stepdaughter panicking. I calmed both of the girls down as much as I could but it didn’t help. I texted their mother and after four hours of not hearing any response—I took the girls to a hairdresser to even the hair out.
The 5-year-old got a bob to even out the damage. My stepdaughter got a small trim to prove to her sister how “brave” she could be. Maybe I overstepped, I thought I did my best considering. The girls were happy and calm the rest of the weekend. Their mother texted me “k” when I updated her on the situation and sent her pictures. She didn’t say a word to me when she picked the girls up later. She did, however, scream her head off when my husband got back for my “neglect” and “passive aggressive BS.” I didn’t get the girls a haircut out of some ideological tug of war, they were upset and it was just a haircut! It wasn’t even a temporary dye. My stepdaughter cut off her sister’s hair in a moment of childhood impulse. There is zero gratitude here. Can I say something and what do I say?
—Haircut