A long-overdue trip to the hairdresser has left Jack bemoaning the loss of his curls.

This is little surprise – his curly locks get him lots of attention – but he had been very well prepared for the big event.

Jack is no stranger to haircuts, but lately has become a lot more aware of his own appearance than he has been in the past. Unfortunately, the full implications of his trip to the hairdressers only became apparent when it was too late.

I wasn’t at the hairdressers myself, mind you. The first indication I got that something was wrong was when I was putting him to bed in the evening, and had to endure him staring at himself forlornly in the mirror, pulling at the tips of his hair.

Eventually, he stated that he never wanted to go to the hairdresser again, which I found harrowing, but quite amusing at the same time.

Later, my wife described how he had responded at the hair dressers. At first, he had been amused by the lengths of hair dropping into his hand, enjoying stroking it and pulling it apart into his lap.

However, as time wore on and more hair fell, he became acutely aware of the transformation that was actually taking place.

There was a brief distraction – the hair dresser gave him a lolly to suck on once he’d finished – but as soon as he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror in our bedroom, he realised the extent of the problem.

In the morning, when his mood had improved, he attempted to make light of the whole affair by trying to ‘style’ his hair with a brush – much to our amusement.

Then, just when we thought all was well, he had a minor breakdown before leaving the house for nursery. Apparently, he was concerned that no-one in school would recognise him anymore! Fortunately, this didn’t prove to be true.

Whoever thought a hair cut would cause so many problems for a three-year-old.