Bonding in the Barber’s Stool

Bonding in the Barber’s Stool

By O. R. Mores

(November 17, 2011)

Parenting is a complex matter and many parents, for one reason or another, struggle poorly in dealing with their children.  This is essentially true with working dads who have little quality time for their kids because they are tied up with their work obligations most of the time being the bread winner of the family.

It may be a combination of my interest in learning new skills and my personal effort to save some money by whatever means as long as it is decent that motivated me to learn the skills of cutting hair in a 3-hour workshop offered in our office.  There are 3 boys in the family and I figured out that I could save some money by being the one to cut their hair. 

In our little hometown of Infanta, Pangasinan, Philippines, a barber collects as much as P50 per head - so that’s 150 pesos for the 3 heads of my 3 boys.  Make the sessions twice a month, thus we are spending 300 pesos in a month.  You multiply that by 12 months, that’s 3,600 pesos in one year!  3,600 pesos maybe a pittance for some people but for us that is already something.  The amount is equivalent to 3 cavans of milled rice which is good for 3 months stock for my family of 5 children.  What if I cut their hair for the entire 10 years each up to their adolescent