Salon 101 For Kids

 

 Usually at this time of year when school has started and is well into its first couple of months, I see a batch of brand new young faces coming into the salon for the first time, all between 11-16.   Every day the kids have seen the latest trends and styles walking down their school corridors and eventually these kids walk through the doors of a salon so that they can emulate the fashions and fit in with those around them. For some of these kids, it's the first time they have ever been to a salon. Their mom's go to salons, but the kids were always at an age when their hair didn't have to be special. A cut from any old place would do. But as puberty hits and pre-adulthood looms the kids start to discover the importance of setting a good impression and looking your best to garner success. For those of you who are parents that have been lucky enough to survive for many years with children that can just have their hair cut anywhere and it didn't matter, your kids might now be at the age when the mall hair cut will mark them like a scarlet letter, (U for uncool),  for the rest of the school year. If that's the case, it is time to acquaint your child with the salon. 

               You may be asking yourself, "What's to acquaint? I'll just make them an appointment." Teaching your child how to maneuver through the ways of the hair salon is a lot like teaching it how to use the post office or the card catalogue at the library, although does anyone still go to libraries? I don't know. I hope so. But anyway, you know what I mean. A child that doesn't know how things work in a salon is going to grow into a person who feels uncomfortable and ill-at-ease in the salon environment. And that would be a shame because the whole purpose of a quality salon experience is to make you feel comfortable, pampered and at ease. From time to time I still see adults who are ill-at ease in a salon environment. They aren't quite sure how things work, or what's going to happen to them during the course of their service, and it takes a visit or two for them to settle in and enjoy it.   When it comes to your child, you will want him or her to feel fully comfortable in any situation. I've no doubt that you have taught them how to behave in a restaurant, how to order from a menu, and I know when the time comes you will teach them how to drive a car. So getting them acquainted with a salon will be a snap compared to teaching them how to parallel park. Luckily for many of you, your children have grown up going with you to the salon so they have learned through osmosis, but for those kids that have never really been in that situation, they will need you to guide them.  
               One thing that I always observe about a kid in my salon is how mature they are or how well they adjust to the tempo of the salon. What I mean by this is how they interact with me and with other staff members. Most stylists dread small children because children don't know how to behave in a cutting chair. And of course one false move and a stylist could cut the child's hair lop-sided or worse. But I have had 5 year olds sit in my chair who could be as still as an adult and, believe it or not, carry on a pretty interesting conversation. It's really all about how the child is taught and how soon they are exposed to certain environments. Age is not necessarily the accurate marker of maturity. One way to help get your teen or preteen get started in the salon world is to have them call to make their appointment themselves once or twice. Give your child some guidelines for what times and days work best for you to take them, and then let them call and schedule it. I think this helps the child to begin their understanding of how the salon system works-- I need a haircut so I have to call to get an appointment. It helps to illustrate that it is a different type of environment than where they used to just walk in and get a cut. It also puts the responsibility on their shoulders. This is a service for them. If you make the call and handle the appointment it may seem like something you're making them do, or they may feel as if they are doing you a favor by going to this place you called.. But by allowing them to handle it, it has now become their thing. 
               On the way to the salon you can explain to your child how things work. You will need to explain to your child what the steps are to the service they are having. For example, if they are there for some kind of color or highlight, explain how that service is applied and how long it takes and make sure your child is patient enough to sit through the application, processing, and styling times. Let them know that they need to walk up to the front desk upon entering, give their name to the receptionist and tell them which stylist they are there to see. Even though the salon already knows who they are there to see because it's on the schedule, it is still good for your child to say the name of the stylist for a couple of reasons. One, it reiterates in their mind that they are in the kind of place that requires an appointment; They are not just a walk-in. Also it helps your child to remember the name of the hairdresser.   Because if they like this person, it could become their hairdresser.   This stylist could be the person that makes them feel assured before their first date, guides them through their awkward teen years, who makes them look and feel magical for their prom, and who will be there on their wedding day making sure that they look just right for the pictures. A new relationship is starting, so your child should understand the importance of that. It's an important relationship and that relationship will begin with the consultation with the stylist. It's important during this consultation that you let your child do some of the talking. You can clarify directions where needed, but let your child tell the stylist what they want and allow that communication to flow between the stylist and their client. Again, this is the beginning of their relationship, they need to find their language together. During this appointment your child is the client, not you. Let the stylist carry on a conversation with the child, not one with you. Think about it this way, if on your first initial visit with your hairdresser, they had carried on an entire conversation with another person, you wouldn't have connected to them right? The same goes for your child. If the talk is all about you or more adult topics between the two of you, then your child is just sitting there feeling bored and childlike. Let your child be the focus and allow them to connect with the environment.   At the end of the service, allow your child to take the tip to the stylist personally. This last step just cements the relationship between the two. It reiterates to the stylist that this person is my client, not this person is the child of my client.  A child's first "grown-up" appointment in the salon is an important rite of passage, it can be a confidence boosting, maturing moment that gives them one of their first few tastes of what it feels like to be an adult.

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