Pre-Schoolers Cut Off 4-Year-Old's Hair, Mom Knows What to Do Next

Newsweek

a day ago

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A mother's act of solidarity with her young daughter has left the internet deeply moved, after she cut off her long blonde hair to match her 4-year-old's—whose first haircut was the result of a distressing encounter with classmates.
Alexis Salerno (@lexfsal) shared on TikTok that the incident took place during a Valentine's Day party she hosted for her daughter, two friends, and their nannies. During the gathering, the children gained access to a pair of craft scissors.
"The girls got a hold of a pair of craft scissors from the craft station and cut my daughter's hair. My daughter is a bit shy and the youngest in the group. She shared with us that while she didn't tell them to stop in the moment, she didn't want her hair to be cut. This was my daughter's first hair cut, her hair was down to her lower back, I was distraught looking at her soft baby curls on the floor," Salerno told Newsweek.
In the wake of the incident, Salerno said she called her husband home from work and the two took their daughter to a local salon, Salon Dada, hoping to give her a proper experience of a "first haircut." While there wasn't much to shape or salvage, the stylists did their best to make it a positive memory.
But the emotional impact lingered. Salerno said that once her daughter realized her long hair wasn't coming back overnight, she became inconsolable.
"Many evenings she cried and asked her daddy to draw hair on her back, asked if he could make it grow back and would cry in the evenings before bed saying 'I don't feel like myself, I miss myself. I don't like my little hair. Mommy how do you spell please don't ever cut my hair again friends?'" she said.
Seeing her daughter struggle, Salerno decided to take a bold step. Her own hair, waist-length for her entire life, was chopped into a chin-length bob.
"When I picked her up from school with my bob, her face lit up. She was SO excited. She ran over and gave me a big hug. Now she says we both have 'little hair' and she matches mommy," she said.
To help her daughter embrace the change, Salerno and her husband celebrated the new look with intention: they bought her a Barbie doll with a pixie cut, listened to singer Pink, and talked about strong women with short hair—from actresses to Olympic athletes.
"My husband and I did everything we could to celebrate her new 'do... and continued to tell her how special she was no matter the length of her hair and that being different is cool," Salerno said.
A split image of Alexis Salerno before with her longer locks and after with her short chop.
A split image of Alexis Salerno before with her longer locks and after with her short chop.
@lexfsal/@lexfsal
Salerno said the decision to cut her hair came easily, and she has no regrets.
"I'm actually really liking the shorter locks, it feels freeing and it's nice to have a change after 30+ years of the same style," she said.
The emotional video transformation resonated widely, earning 143,900 likes and over 2.6 million views on TikTok.
Salerno was surprised by the overwhelming response, especially as a newcomer to the platform. "The social media reaction has been wild! I'm new to TikTok and honestly still learning how to use the platform. People are generally being so kind and supportive," she said.
However, she also addressed a misconception that the incident occurred in a school setting, clarifying.
"Other people are assuming this happened in school and are blaming the teacher they think is responsible for allowing this to happen. I've commented to clarify this happened outside of school," she said.
Despite the distressing nature of the situation, Salerno said she's grateful no one was hurt and sees it as a chance to teach her daughter resilience.
"I fully understand these are young kids and mistakes happen, I think everyone has learned from it. We have been able to teach our girl about resilience at a young age and that we've got her no matter what life throws at her," she said.
The TikTok comments reflect the emotional impact of her story.
"You remind me of Julianne Hough when she plays in Safe Haven. Absolutely beautiful!" said Kadee.
"Omg this length was MADE for you!! It makes you look like pure sunshine," said Megan.
"That hair cut just took 10 years off you! You look fantastic," added Amanda.
Some users shared similar experiences or chimed in with insight.
"For those of you surprised this can happen, I don't think you understand the quickness that children can be with scissors. I'm a pediatric goatee and I can't tell you the amount of times kids have cut their own hair while I was 3 inches away. THEY ARE FAST," said Jacqueline.
"Another preschooler took a huge chunk off the side of my daughter's long beautiful blonde hair I couldn't look at the mom for the rest of preschool," one mother shared.
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