Home hairdressing is

fraught with dangers.
Middle Cat came and cut the Senior Cat's hair yesterday. It is not the first time she has done it. She cuts her DH's hair too. 
Until now Middle Cat has cut the Senior Cat's hair in a way that needs to be done again in 6-8 weeks. This time she decided it needed to be "nice and short for the summer". 
He doesn't have that much hair these days and now he looks almost bald. Oh yes, she cut it - to about 2cms in length.
   "You won't have to do it," she told him.
No, he won't. 
He would have liked it left a little longer. 
I have said nothing. I dare not say anything. There was that one occasion when I allowed Middle Cat to "cut off a couple of split ends". At the time I thought it was a reasonable offer. I had intended to do it myself but had not done it.
Now, understand this please, I have long hair - half way down my back. It would be even longer but I keep it trimmed. I have straight hair. Most of the time I simply tie it back. I do not go to a hairdresser.
Middle Cat has curls. Her hair is short. She heads for the hairdresser at regular intervals. 
And she likes to play hairdresser. On that one occasion she cut fifteen or more centimetres from my hair. I looked ridiculous - not one thing or the other. There was only just enough to "put up neatly".  I told her "never again". Oh she has tried to persuade me more than once. No. NO! 
I reminded her of the time that she and the  Black Cat had cut one another's hair. Our mother had a hard time repairing the damage. Their hair didn't look right for weeks. 
My maternal grandmother tried giving herself a "home perm". Her hair ended up as a frizzy mess. After that she went to a  hairdresser. 
Our mother had naturally curly hair that always seemed to sit in the right place. She would head to the hairdresser about once every eight weeks and simply get it cut. She didn't need to get anything else done. Her friends envied her.
But I have taken the example of my paternal grandmother. She had long hair all her life. She simply washed it and, occasionally, trimmed the ends. Each morning she would expertly twist it around and pin it up. She looked - absolutely right. 
My paternal grandfather approved of it. It wasn't that he believed women should have long hair as such. It was because he believed she looked good that way - and she did.
One day when I was in my teens he stood in front of me and looked carefully. Then he said,
    "Promise me you will keep your hair long. Short would not suit  you either."
I promised...and I have kept that promise. I have no desire to break it. Had Middle Cat cut my hair back any further I would have been even more distressed than I was. It's not that I particularly care about how I look. I don't. But - I made a promise.
And think of what I save on hairdresser's bills.