Ryan* was born with a full head of hair. The moment his mom, Pippa* saw, she knew he was basically a carbon copy of her husband, Ben*.

His hair was thick and long, so the parents agreed they would let it grow as much as possible before getting a haircut. 

As the months passed, his hair continued to grow. At six months old, people couldn’t help but remark on how incredible his locks were. 

One day Pippa’s dad picked up little Ryan from their in-laws and drove to Pippa’s work to take her home. 

When she got to her parent’s house, her mom had cooked her some dinner, which Pippa was thankful to receive. 

“While I was eating, my father realized my son had lost his sock, so he went to go search for it,” the mom told Reddit. 

Pippa’s mom told her she would change Ryan’s clothes as he was wet from eating and drooling. 

“I don’t realize it immediately, but my father gets my son, I eventually get ahold of him, and I realize there’s something wrong with the back of his head,” she said. 

She put two and two together and came to the conclusion that someone had cut her son’s hair without her permission.

“I had a conversation with her multiple times on how I wish to not cut my son’s hair any time soon, even recently,” she said. 

Pippa wasn’t just upset about her son’s unplanned haircut; her mom did “a half-a– job of it.” 

“The middle and right side of the back of his hair is completely gone, while there’s a bit of the left side still there,” she said in tears. “There’s also small long hairs still visible in the middle and on the right side.” 

“This was sneakily done, horrifically, to the point where my mother would assume I wouldn’t notice the difference in the back of my son’s head.”

Pippa’s mom tried to reason with her, explaining how “unkempt” her grandson’s hair looked and people were mistaking “him for a girl.” 

“I personally don’t give a damn if someone mistakes my son for a girl,” Pippa said in defiance. “I’ve come across extremely respectful parents at the park who ask me the gender of my baby before making assumptions. 

“But also, his hair didn’t look unkempt to begin with,” she added.

To Pippa, her son’s hair was more than just locks on his head. “His hair added so much personality to help to the point where it feels like that was ripped away from him almost,” she said.

When Pippa called Ben about the situation, he was beyond furious. He told Pippa their son wouldn’t be coming back to Pippa’s parent’s place. Even after Pippa’s dad called Ben to apologize for the situation, it didn’t change his mind. 

“My mother knew my boundary, and [it] was broken,” Pippa said. “This time, it’s hair, but what boundary could my mother push next time to potentially do something I wouldn’t approve of to my son?”

“Your mom took something from you that you cannot get back”

The people on Reddit understood Pippa’s anger and told her she had every right to be upset. 

“I’d be upset too,” a supporter wrote. “You are allowed to set boundaries with your parents, and you are allowed to be upset when they cross them. It might not [have] been a big deal to her, but it is to you and your husband, and that’s what matters.”

“I would be upset too, she took something from you that you cannot get back,” a woman said. 

“That’s overstepping boundaries,” another agreed. “You’re allowed to be upset because this is more than just about hair. It’s about someone disrespecting your wishes about your own son.”

Some suggested Pippa keep her son away from the grandparents until his hair grows back to its original length. 

“And that would be the last time she’s alone with my child for a long long time – trust has been broken, and boundaries have been crossed,” read a comment. 

But others believed Pippa was “overreacting” about the haircut itself.

“It’s just hair,” someone reasoned. “It will grow back, and nothing about your son’s personality was linked to his hair. Be upset about the boundary, but don’t sweat the hair.”

*Names have been changed