This is one I wrote shortly before I started keeping a blog, and never got around to posting. It’s not “live”, but I’m linking to dVerse OLN because it is a snippet of life out here, from that burning summer just before covid.
You, put the chair on the porch
You, get the big scissors
Okay, who’s first…
Oh come on…
Right, you! Sit!
(snip snip snip)
light brown hair drifts down
XXXXXXXXXXOw!
You’re fine, stop complaining –
anyway, that’s what happens when you fidget.
You – go get a bandaid!
Okay, you’re done
XXXXXXXXXXIt’s all itchy mum!
You – go get the hose
Right, next!
XXXXXXXXXXDon’t make it look like a bowl this time mum, pleeeaaase…
Fine, but your ears’ll look big
XXXXXXXXXXIf I still have any, his is bleeding!
Stop being a bloody princess
(snip snip snip)
dark brown hair sails off in the breeze
Right, last one. You – sit.
XXXXXXXXXXDon’t take too much off mum.
You look like a bloody haystack
…and what’s this stuff?
XXXXXXXXXXglue
Bloody hell…
D’you want a fringe?
XXXXXXXXXXyeah, okay mum
(snip snip snip)
yellow hair drops to the greying timber boards
Okay, strip off and stand in the garden
No! leave your boots on,
there might be a snake!
You, open the valve on the tank
XXXXXXXXXXow! it’s too hot!
Well, what d’ya expect, the hose has been in the sun
it’ll cool off,
anyway, you’re done…
Okay you’re done too…
right, last!
XXXXXXXXXXMMuuum! it’s too cold!
Stop moving!
Oh for crying out loud! Now you’ve fallen in the onions!
XXXXXXXXXXHa! look, she’s covered in dirt!
Right, let’s get the dirt off –
stand over the tomatoes now
they need some water.
you – go turn the valve off
you – put all the clothes in the wash
you – go tell your father it’s his turn
XXXXXXXXXX…hey mum, dad says no,
XXXXXXXXXXnot unless he can do yours first.
three smirking faces
XXXXXXXXXXwell mum?
anotherKate 
😂😂. What fun. Sounds so Aussie. I love it.
Thanks 😀
Aww I love this!! So natural and lively! 💜☺
Thanks Shruba 😀
My father was the hairdresser when I was a kid, buzz cutting me and my older brother in this tall ice cream shop chair we had in the kitchen. He was matter of fact and not beyond nicking our ears if we fidgeted. Loved this!
Thanks Brendan. My mum always did our hair when we were kids, on a stool in the kitchen. Doing it outside there’s less sweeping up to do. 😀
Utterly enjoyable – I can picture it clearly.
Thanks Ron!
Like Ron says, I could picture this scene as if I was there. What a great snippet (sorry) of your childhood.
My mum did cut my hair when I was a kid – but this was actually about me cutting my own kids hair. 🙂
Ahah!
Many a home-style haircut in the “old days”. Your story is a family treasure!
And today too, because of covid. 🙂 Although I do my kids hair anyway.
Oh I love this … a huge grin on my face. My Grandfather used to cut my hair which was a terrifying ordeal for me the little girl. However, he did a great job and never ‘nicked’ me in the process.
Thanks Helen 🙂 I was always a little scared of my grandfather, because he told me that he had hiccoughs once and didn’t like it, so he never had them again. 😀 As a child I believed him, so saw him as sort of superhuman that he could choose never to have hiccoughs!
Oh this is a lot of fun – I can just picture the scene!
Thanks Ingrid!
Lol what fun! I have been giving my kids haircuts during the lockdown.
I hope they appreciate it more than mine do 🙂
They just about tolerate it! 🙄😉
Enjoyed this. Fun all the way. I cut my own hair now, looking in the mirror. Keeps going zig zag, one side long, the other side a bit short. I have got myself a new hair style, which no salon can match.
I do too! And one side is definitely shorter, so I part it on that side and pretend it’s a style 😀 my daughter tidies up the back for me.
Oh this is fun, Kate! 😆 How did your hubby do with your hair?
He didn’t, I did it myself. 😀 I’m not precious… but I wasn’t taking that risk. He may still harbour thoughts of vengeance from when I did his with the dog’s clippers.
Absolutely hilarious, Kate! 😀 I can see the whole scene playing out. What a joyfully rugged outdoorsy life you lead. I love the practicality of your mum here:
“Right, let’s get the dirt off –
stand over the tomatoes now
they need some water.”
And a great punchline – brilliant! 🙂
That wasn’t my mum, that was me! 😀 During the drought I hosed the kids off a few times in the garden, and took showers there myself under the hose.
Oh! 😂 And did you allow hubby to cut your hair, I wonder? 😄
Brilliant narrative and pace, it’s like a standalone piece of flash fiction as well as a poem 👌
Nope, he wanted to use clippers… 😀 I did it myself.
She’s a character!
Thank you 😀
Love the way the dialogue tells the story. Brave “mama”….or maybe they were the brave ones. 😉
Thanks Mish 😀
A crowning glory, Kate! x
Thank Nick 😀 ❤