Hunter Rollins isn’t a fan of getting his hair cut.
The 4-year-old has never liked being fussed with, and his mom, Katie, says the only person he’s ever been able to sit still for a haircut with is Kate at Sit Still Kids in Louisville, Ky., where the family lives. So, when it was time for Hunter to get a haircut recently, Katie, 43, tells us that he was really unhappy and refused to get in the car.
“We were outside, and I almost called them to cancel, but then he said he wanted to bring his vacuum and show Miss Kate,” Katie, a branding and website designer, tells us exclusively.
“Sometimes in parenting, you have to pick your battles, and I said, ‘Of course, go grab it,’ ” she adds.
A photo of Hunter Rollins.
Katie Rollins
Speaking to PEOPLE, Katie explains how Hunter has always loved gadgets — wheels, fans, switches, and anything he can investigate to see how it works. His latest favorite gadget is a Shark Robot Vacuum, which his babysitter, Andrea, introduced him to when she brought him over to her house one day.
Eventually, the family purchased one of their own earlier this year. Katie says Hunter loves to put it on a bench, flip it over, move the wheels, spin the spinner brush and investigate all the parts. Every morning when he wakes up, she says, he comes downstairs and turns it on to get to work.
“We had to replace it because he runs it so much that it lost power,” Katie says. “We just got this new one about two weeks ago, and he has had it attached to his hip ever since.”
“The current vacuum is named ‘Shark Attack’ and is a girl,” she continues, adding that they also put googly eyes on it. “The previous one we had was named ‘Big Vacuum’ and was a boy. He named them both.”
When Hunter and Katie arrived at the kids’ salon carrying the big vacuum, Katie says no one batted an eye.
“I was shocked,” she says. “While we waited for Kate to get over to us, the receptionist sat with him while he showed her the wheels and scrubby brush.”
She adds, “Apparently, they’ve seen everything from feather dusters to pencil sharpeners, and with kiddos, nothing surprises them. Whatever helps the kids feel comfortable for their haircut, they are in full support.”
Hunter Rollins with his hairdresser Kate.
Katie Rollins
Throughout the haircut, the vacuum sat on Hunter’s lap. He spun the wheels and the spinner brush for a bit. Then he asked to watch “vacuum videos,” which Katie opened up on TikTok to keep him distracted. He talked about his vacuum and the ones on the screen.
During all of this, Katie took photos and videos to send to her out-of-state family. Eventually, she decided to post about it on TikTok, where it went viral, amassing more than 500,000 views.
“I was nervous for a minute that people would think it was weird and say rude things, but the comments have been so great,” she adds.
“It’s ranged anywhere from people thinking it’s funny to being emotional about how something as simple as a vacuum helped a kiddo get through sensory challenges with a haircut,” she continues. “I’ve loved hearing in the comments from parents talking about the funny things their kids are obsessed with.”
A closeup photo of the vacuum with eyes.
Katie Rollins
Since posting, Katie adds, it’s been sweet to hear from younger people in the comments about how they had fixations on items when they were young and felt weird about it. Now, they’re happy to see them being normalized.
“I think in parenting, we’re often moving really quickly, and when the kids are really little, taking a minute to hear what they have to say or want means a lot to them,” she says.
“Hunter is one of many kiddos who are drawn to things like fans, vacuums, gadgets, spinners and other sensory-stimulating items — and they bring him genuine happiness,” she continues. “I don’t think he will need to bring a vacuum to every appointment in his life —or I kind of hope not, at least — but this was a simple ask in reality, and I know it helped him so much.”
She adds, “We celebrate his love for things because they make him genuinely happy, and life is short.”
