Emma’s fluctuating haircut perplexed a family living in a peaceful suburb whenever her grandmother watched over things. After every visit, Emma’s mother Lydia became worried about the change in the hair of her six-year-old daughter. Lydia installed covert cameras throughout the house, resolved to get responses. Emma’s grandmother, a former hairdresser, had been showing her granddaughter a unique bonding practice, according the video—unexpected but touching.

Emma, keen to “play salon,” would cut her own hair under close supervision by her grandmother. These were happy, laughing, and storytelling times. Lydia’s worries became admiration as she understood the importance of these times. Rather of criticizing her mother, she utilized it as a teaching moment for Emma on creativity and limits. Lydia signed Emma into kids’ hairstyling courses in order to inspire her daughter.

Originally a mystery, what turned out to be a poignant tale about family ties reminding them that sometimes the answers we are looking for are found in love and small customs.