Getting a child's hair cut can be infuriating. For some, it's easy with not a hint of protest or discontent. Others find the entire process is fraught with difficulty right from the start, as their children stamp, scream and shake their heads angrily, ensuring that shaggy, unkempt locks are the only style they'll wear.
In this respect, we're lucky. Toby happily trots off for his bi-monthly shear, then spends the intervening time chatting happily about his last visit. It helps that walking past the hairdresser is almost a daily ritual, and a friendly wave goes a long way to making the whole experience a pleasurable one.
Tantrum is a children's hairdressers with a difference. The salon uses the distraction principle, bombarding the child with entertainment and options so that they will hopefully not realise what's happening until it's far too late. Located at the west end of London's Kings Road, walking into Tantrum, you see five pedal cars, raised up in front of a mirrored stretch of wall to act as a grand suite of very special barber's chairs.
Toby had the choice of a sports car, fire engine, racing car, 4x4 or fighter plane. Rather surprisingly he chose the plane, sitting very still and calm as he processed his surroundings. Straightaway, the hairdresser asked him for his choice of DVD. Unsurprisingly Thomas the Tank Engine was picked and straightaway the row of flat screens in front of each chair showed the familiar credits.
While the cut was underway - by a Sassoon-trained hairdresser, no less - I prowled around the premises. The upstairs salon, “Moon”, is pitched at the under sevens, decorated with a bold, bright mural, with a toy train track at ceiling level for added “tip your head back” interest.
The back room was given over to beanbags, a large TV, toys and a treasure chest filled with tempting lollipops, along with a Wii console for savvier children. Further back still was the adult crash pad, a refined room filled with comfy chairs and copies of Tatler and Top Gear.
Downstairs is “Vogue”, with far more grown up design and a row of chairs that one can easily imagine filled with excitable young girls. Aimed at seven to14 year olds, this is a room tailor-made for dressing up parties, replete with glamorous mirrors, elegant drapes and plenty of space to unleash a horde of inner divas.
Tantrum has much to recommend it. Real attention to detail makes everyone feel welcome, plus the cut they gave Toby was genuinely cute. If you need to turn a visit to the hairdresser from a horror story into a big day out, Tantrum could be the best place to start.
Haircuts by Tantrum, £18, 398 Kings Road, London SW10 0LJ
For appointments tel: 020 7376 3966