Another adventure in child rearing…
Beware the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer:
This afternoon, while helping make Banana Bread with her Papa, Ella accidentally got too close to the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.
Her hair got caught by its rotation and was immediately and violently entangled in its shaft and attachment.
It was pretty horrible.
But Papa, Aunt Kelly and I got her untangled and eventually calmed down. She was OK.
But her beautiful hair was another story…
Kelly and I tended to her, which included a bath to aid the process of washing the Banana Bread batter out of her hair, and then untangling it. When that didn’t seem to go so well, we realized something…
The rats nest of hair that was being so stubborn was not just knotted hair, but actually a clump of hair that had been ripped out of a 5″ x 3″ section of her scalp and was finely intertwined into a nearly solid matte of hair. Almost as if someone had glued a fist-sized clump of hair halfway down her own.
Once Kelly and I realized that untangling it was a hopeless cause, I called Jennie (who was on an errand) to give her the story and the bad news.
After she got home and we called two of the family’s go-to hairdressers, Jennie and I opted to take her to the Toni & Guy salon at the mall and have them work some magic on what was certainly to be Ella’s new “shorter than desired” haircut…
Well…
Convinced they could save her hair length and prevent a drastic hair cut, a team of stylists and wash girls – lead by the salon manager – worked for 3 hours on Ella’s hair.
They were incredible. They used every shampoo, conditioner, oil, and chemical they had, plus a ton of patience, perseverance and old-fashioned elbow grease.
And don’t worry. I’m pretty sure we gave them the biggest tip they’ll have for a loooong time…. 😉 Hey – that sure beats the alternative of a 4 year old girl with a buzz cut!
Thanks T&G ladies!!!
Hour #1…
Hour #2 – Reinforcements arrive…
Hour #3 – still going…
Final Product: No visible difference !!!
But this is the damaged area under the top layer of hair. Nearly the entire area is smooth to the scalp, pulled out by the root.
I’d cry too if this was yanked out of my head by a 325-watt, 5 quart, 22 pound household appliance!!
The Ballad of Mr. Fun 
oh, poor ella. i’m sitting here in tears. i’m so glad she’s “ok”. how scary for her and for you guys.
i feel bad because the person that commented before me is in tears feeling bad for her and i am laughing. i am a bad bad aunt! but it’s still kinda funny.
Jennie did mention she put Rogain on the grocery list for tomorrow… 😉
hahaha! i just keep thinking about when you and i first discovered that there was a bald spot! i felt bad but it was so shockingly funny!
Hey Ella,
I am so sorry that this happened to you today! You still are and always will be the most beautiful girl, inside and out!!!
I Love you,
Miss Donna
oh my gosh! i can’t even begin to comprehend how painful that must have been for your sweet girl! i did once have to take a screwdriver to an automatic train that tangled itself around my sweet niece’s hair. poor girl… i hope she got a lot of sugar for that episode!
as a woman with long hair-i cannot imagine how painful and traumatic that must of been. i too am sitting here with tears rolling down my face…mostly for ella but also because of the sweet women at t&g who saved her hair. poor, poor ella. i wonder if this will affect her desire to bake when she gets older…?:)
I’m the nice aunt. I even made the hair appointment for her. 😉 But seriously, so glad she is ok!!
I’m the Canadian Nana and I have to say my heart is with Ella’s Papa. Is he OK?
Hi,
My next door neighbor had the same exact thing happen to her daughter this week when her pony tail got caught in the Kitchenaid K5ss mixer. Her grandmother was watching her and turned away only for a second or two. The little girl lost even a larger patch of hair than Ella’s. I have two questions. First did Ella’s hair grow back? I sure hope so. Second I are trying to find a copy of the original booklet that came with the mixer and whether or not there were adequate warnings on the booklet. I know that there are warnings now but these are old units and may not have had warnings back when these units first came out. Any information would be helpful.
Thank you,
Steve
This happened to my daughter and it has been almost two months ago. It was bald white and now you can see dots of hair, but I am concerned it will not grow back. Did your daughters hair grow back?
This may sound wierd but I dont see why you didnt just give her a buzz cut.
My daughter is only 6 years old and she is in grade 1 and she has a buzz cut and she likes it, I dont see why alot of people thing buzz cuts on girls arent pretty cause my little girl likes her buzz cut and that it what she chose to have for her hair and she is only 6.
I would have just gave her a buzz cut, you would have…
*saved on money
*she would have a bald spot
*it wouldnt have taken as long
*and she would look really pretty with a buzz cut
next time something happens like that just give her a buzz cut.
Hey there:
This just happened to my child too. I’m so sorry! Glad she was “okay.” It wasn’t a KitchenAid stand mixer with us; just a smaller, less-powerful handheld. So it didn’t take out as big a patch, but needless to say, it took me by surprise and now I’m a little concerned reading your article. I notice this was written a year ago, and I’m wondering: how did it go? did the hair grow back okay? I’d be really grateful if you could write me back and let me know. It’d be a load off my mind. God bless – thanks!
The good thing is that all of Ella’s hair grew back. No problems. The hair was pulled out so quickly, it was just like a waxing (so they tell me…). It sat a little funny for a while, but you’d never know today that it had happened…
This happened to my son who had very long hair it took out 1/3 of hair …. it looked exactly like your daughter…. we had to buzz cut it b/
c it. was in front and so much…… how long did it take to grow back…..????
Yesterday..same story with my 5 year old. The patch of hair missing is in the same area as your daughter. So traumatizing for all. Is it all grown in now? So worried it might not. And hoping the memory fades from both of our minds.
Ahh! I’m so sorry to hear that! Yeah, it was a traumatic day for us.
You’ll be happy to know that all the hair grew in, like it never happened! And yes, the memory lives on mostly in photos, not though a fear of baking 🙂
My 4 year old got her hair caught in our treadmill wheel tonight and also hado a huge chunk of hair ripped out by the root. Tell me it grew back? I’m sick to my stomach over here.
In our case, the hair was ripped out at the root, similar to a waxing. It did grow back, and within a few months, you could not tell anything had happened!