It can get pretty wild between the police car chair and the Thomas train table. Sometimes kids don't want to get their hair cut despite every trick, distraction, lollipop and animated movie. There have been biters, hitters and, yes, even spitters. But the Yoneharas are unfazed.

"Kids will be kids," Grace Yonehara says. "If they were 21 and doing that, it would be a different story."

Brian and Grace Yonehara opened Pigtails and Crewcuts, a hair salon for kids, two years ago at Moanalua Shopping Center. They have a staff of 13 level-headed and steady-handed people who understand that their job is part haircut, part child psychology, part parent wrangling. If a parent comes in saying she wants to take home every single hair that comes off their child's head, the staff clears the area, gets down on hands and knees and finds every tiny clipping to go home in a Ziploc bag.

"Some of the parents get really teary-eyed with the first haircut," Brian says. "They go, 'Oh, my baby!' "

Emotional storms aside, the Yoneharas say business has been steady despite the economic downturn. Their fluky idea is holding its own.

"I saw it online, a franchise opportunity, and kind of as a joke I said, 'We should do this,' " Brian said.

The joke was that the two of them were pretty busy already. They have two daughters, ages 4 and 2, and busy careers: he has an MBA and works for a shipping company, she's an attorney who recently joined First Hawaiian Bank. But they visited the Pigtails corporate headquarters in Atlanta and liked what they saw.

Last year, Pigtails and Crewcuts' staff went to Kapi'olani Medical Center once a month to donate haircuts and manicures to children in the oncology ward. Last month, they went to Shriners to offer the same service. Grace Yonehara used to work for a nonprofit, and she's a big believer in community outreach. Their used Thomas train table went recently went to a family shelter in Wai'anae.

Brian comes to the salon every day on his lunch break. He disinfects combs, sweeps hair, wipes counters, and punches customer loyalty cards. On Saturdays, he helps out with the Diva- or Princess-themed birthday parties.

It's not always chaos. Some kids sit sweetly in the airplane car, watch Nemo on screens above the mirrors and eat animal crackers while they get a trim. But some go nuts, and when that happens, the Yoneharas roll with it. If it means cutting a toddler's hair while he runs around the Thomas train set, so be it.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.