The Bangs Incident: A Grandson, A Fade, and A Haircut Gone Sideways

My 12-year-old grandson has been growing out his hair since the end of school. He didn’t have a specific hairstyle in mind—he just wanted to grow it out. Normally, he likes it short with a fade, but this summer he was rocking the shaggy look. It had just started to touch his collar and he was getting tired of it.

Last week, he decided it was time for a change. Instead of waiting to go to his regular barber, he wanted to try a place closer to our property. There’s a new barbershop nearby called House of Fades, and we figured, why not? We were on our way home, they take walk-ins, and they could get him in right away.

We showed the barber a photo of the style he wanted, and the guy said confidently, “I can do that.” My grandson hopped in the chair, and I found a seat and settled in to scroll through Facebook.

About 25–30 minutes went by. He was still getting his hair cut. The barber said he was “almost done.” But I was starting to get concerned. It seemed to be taking way too long, and the guy’s confidence was visibly fading.

Another 20 minutes passed before the barber spun my grandson around to show me the final result.

I almost fainted.

His bangs were crooked and uneven. Some pieces were sticking straight out from his head. It was… quite a sight.

I asked the barber if he could please fix the bangs. (I knew this could make things worse, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.) He gave a few hesitant snips and—yes—it looked slightly better. Still uneven. Still weird.

And yes… I actually paid for the haircut.

We got in the car, and the moment the door shut, my grandson flipped down the visor mirror to assess the damage. He tried tugging and brushing his bangs into place, but they were beyond repair.

I told him I’d try to even them out a little more when we got home. Then he’d just have to go for a messy, gelled look until they grew out.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit: my hair-cutting skills are not salon-worthy. But I gave it a go. I did manage to get the bangs a bit straighter… but now they had a rainbow curve to them.

Super short. Still weird. But slightly more symmetrical?

My grandson shrugged and said, “Papa can fix it.”

He went up to his room to play video games with his friends, like it was no big deal.

Later that evening, my husband came home and stepped in to save the day. He eliminated the rainbow curve and cleaned everything up. The haircut was still not ideal, but it looked significantly better.

My grandson didn’t say much—he didn’t love it—but he didn’t complain either.

And since then? He hasn’t mentioned his hair again.

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We’ve all had a bad haircut at some point in our lives, but this one felt like a crash course in trust, improvisation, and the power of a good attitude. Honestly, I think I was more traumatized than he was. But the bangs will grow, the memory will last, and next time… we’re going to his barber.

I am positive that if this had happened to me—or any woman on the planet—we would have run out of that salon crying and stayed in our room for days. The hair nightmare would’ve been shared with a few select friends, Google would’ve been consulted for ways to hide the bangs, and it would’ve been a topic for days… maybe months.

But not him. He just accepted the situation, acknowledged that his hair would grow out before school started, and moved on. The only comment he made?

“We’re never going back there again.”

It could have been a tragedy—a tween boy with rainbow bangs, a traumatized grandmother, and a barbershop that’s now dead to us. But somehow, we survived.

He didn’t panic. He didn’t spiral. He just said, “Papa can fix it,” and carried on with his day like it was no big deal.

Honestly? I want to be more like him.

What about you? Have you ever had a haircut go horribly wrong? Crooked bangs? Bowl cuts? A traumatic box dye situation? I’d love to hear your stories—drop them in the comments and let me know I’m not alone in the bad haircut hall of fame.