Dad Asks Reddit If He's Wrong For Cutting Off His 7-Year-Old Daughter's Hair

Parenting can get messy fast, especially when a daily routine turns into a standoff. For one single dad on Reddit, that fight centered on something as ordinary as brushing his 7-year-old daughter’s hair. After warning her that the hair would be cut if she would not help maintain it, the dad finally followed through and trimmed it to just below her shoulders.

Now he is dealing with a devastated child, a wave of Reddit reactions, and one question that would make any parent pause.

For Reddit user u/Imnotyourbuddytool, the struggle became real when it came to caring for his 7-year-old daughter's hair.

Tamara Bellis (not the actual photo)

The Redditor's little girl had lovely long hair, but she refused to take care of it.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

Any attempt to brush the 7-year-old's hair would result in a tantrum, or she would walk away and flat-out refuse.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

So the single dad warned her that if she didn't take care of her hair, they would have to cut it off. One day, fed up with the daily struggle, our OP followed through and cut his daughter's hair to just below her shoulders.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

Of course, the little girl was devastated, and our OP was left wondering if he had done the right thing.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

That decision set off a big debate in the comments.

Here's how people reacted.

"She's only seven."

Reddit / fsr87

"My mom did this to me."

Reddit / Totally_Not_Anna

One commenter immediately related to the story.

"You shouldn't have cut her hair."

Reddit / DrNogoodNewman

"You've got a lot of work ahead to recover from this."

Reddit / chamomilesmile

"You could have just helped her brush it."

Reddit / GlencoraPalliser

Plenty of people thought the haircut went too far.

This is similar to the woman weighing whether to hire a caregiver for her stubborn elderly dad, even though he refused, right here.

"You're in the wrong here."

Reddit / C8H10N4O2Addiction

"I suggest trying another approach."

Reddit / lifeofstrength

"You overreacted."

Reddit / ExactPanda

"What is wrong with you?"

Reddit / aiecmll23

"You went straight punitive, which is wrong."

Reddit / Killinghummingbirds

The OP later came back with more context.

The OP provided an update and some further details on the situation.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

He explained that he had been trying to get her to cooperate for two years already.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

He even tried taking her to a salon.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

He said he would never do something like that again and that he has since apologized to his daughter.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

The single dad acknowledged that it's always best to act with a "cool head."

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

He thanked the community for their responses.

Reddit / Imnotyourbuddytoo

Now he is left with an apology, a haircut, and a lot of second-guessing.

What do you think about how our OP handled this situation? Did he overreact, or do you think his actions are justified?

One thing is for sure: every parent makes mistakes. Sometimes it can be impossible to know the right thing to do in the heat of the moment, and none of us are perfect.

Here's hoping the little girl has learned an important lesson from all of this, and that all will be smooth sailing from here on. We would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Reddit stayed split on whether OP was too harsh for demanding a struggling sibling repay borrowed money during a crisis, read here.