I've used the phrases "only color paper" and "only cut paper" a billion times with the twins. They know exactly where they can color and exactly what they can cut. We've made it very clear that any coloring of non paper items or cutting of non paper items is clearly something they know to be wrong. It's as clear as black and white, or is it?
There is a little gray. The hairstylist is allowed to cut your hair with scissors and for a 3 year old preschooler, roleplaying the role of hairstylist, this blurred area can apparently trip you up.
I was watching something random on the DVR last night alone with the twins. They'd asked me to sit on the floor so they could do my hair. It's a game we've played a million times. They, as my hairstylists, brush my thick head of hair and proceed to snap 40 of my daughter's barrettes into it to make me look LOVELY. It's always been harmless fun that keeps them calm and busy for a good twenty minutes towards the bedtime hour.
I never saw the safety scissors coming ... Snip! A chunk of my hair was on the ground.
Just like that, one of the twins lopped off a lock of my hair and immediately began tearing up and apologizing. "Sorry Sorry So Sorry Mommy!" He knew the moment he did it, he had crossed the line. Any gray area was no longer visible. I didn't have to punish him, he went and sat himself in "time out" repeating "Sorry Sorry So Sorry Mommy!" over and over. His twin brother was apologizing too and joined him in the chair. We had a long chat about the "hairstylist loophole" and I covered the "painter loophole" while I was at it.
Luckily you can't tell by looking at me. My hair is crazy thick and he snipped off a spot in the back of my hair that was under my top layer. I won't go so far as to say I got lucky, but it could have been much worse. More importantly, let's hope the boys have learned a valuable lesson regarding that gray area between black and white. I know I've learned one about the proximity of the safety scissors.