When I was a kid I didnt move very quickly. My grandmother would call out to me to hurry up, and when I inevitably replied, “I’m Coming!” she would always holler back “So is CHRISTMAS!”.

The holidays have arrived, everybody. Thanksgiving just passed with a flurry and christmas is well on its way. Now is the time to start taking the kids in to get their holiday haircuts! You might think, No its too early for Christmas haircuts! Its not even the first of December yet! On the contrary, my friends, now is the perfect time.

By now, your holiday cards have come and gone. The photography is done with, and the postage stamps have been licked. But dont forget about the photographs you are bound to take of the kids on Christmas Day! Despite the inexplicable bed-head that comes with having kids and early mornings, give your kids the foundation of a great haircut to make those Christmas morning pictures less embarassing to your kids years from now! (By the way, thanks a lot for that home-cut mullet, Ma.)

A nice general rule of thumb is to give your kids’ hair 2-3 weeks to “settle” into a haircut before big events like Picture Day, Christmas, or a birthday. While fresh haircuts can appear blunt or harsh, giving a 2-3 week gap between the haircut and photo-taking event allows the hair time to grow a small bit and relax into a great style.

Try to avoid trimming bangs the night before. Not only will this be obvious in the photographs the next day (unless you are an expert with the thinning shears), but also eliminates the opportunity to take your child into a salon to fix any Mommy Mistakes you may make.

The key to great holiday hair is to think a-HEAD (oh, I’m so funny!)