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“Ouch mama!”
On occasion, my youngest daughter will say this when I’m parting her wavy, curly hair. She says that the comb pokes her.
I get annoyed because making a part lasts less than a minute and a fine tooth comb is the perfect tool to get the job done.
As a young black girl, getting my hair done weekly was a long process. The thickness of my hair made washing, drying and styling almost an all day process. I didn’t dread it (for the most part) because it was just part of our weekly routine.
Now that I’m raising my own biracial children, I try to make our curly hair process fun. I want them to grow up having pride in who they are and all parts of themselves.
People often ask how I get my girls to sit still while I’m styling their hair. It’s something I never really thought about until the question arose.
From the time they were babies, my husband and I made bath time, getting ready and bedtime fun events, so we never had much resistance from our kids in those areas.
Involve Them in the Process
My husband even gets involved in the hair styling process–especially on those days that I am running late for work, or too exhausted to finish bedtime routines.
It’s funny how most of the lessons we learn in life are from experience, not so much from someone sitting down and giving us a lesson.
What I remember about getting my hair done as a little girl was that my mom involved me in the process. She would show me my outfit and allow me to pick out barrettes that matched. As I got older, she even allowed me to pick out particular styles.
This is a lesson that I carried on with my girls. Now that my oldest is 7, she asks questions about EVERYTHING, so I use this to my advantage. I tell her what products work in her hair and why.
I also encourage her to take care of her hair when she is away (spending the night at grandmas). I am preparing her to take over caring for her own curls as she gets older.
Lucky for us, we’ve found a couple of brands that work for all 3 of our curly textures. Right now we are loving The Mane Choice & Camille Rose Naturals.
Answer Questions About Their Curls
If you have little ones like I do, I know that answering questions gets annoying at times. It seems like one answer just leads into the next question. But if we truly think about the purpose of questions (to get an answer) maybe we won’t get so annoyed.
Our kids are learning so much about their world and it’s important for them to get a correct answer so they can be well informed. I love that my girls ask questions about what products I’m using and why.
As they grow into preteens and young adults, they won’t have to go through the struggle I did when I first embraced my natural curls. They will be confident in knowing what works for them and why.
Get Help
If you are at a total loss of what to do with your child’s curls, it’s okay!!
Maybe you have straight hair, or you are raising a child of an ethnicity that is completely different from yours.
The important thing is to seek out help and use resources around you to help figure out what to do with your child’s hair.
Giving up isn’t an option because as a parent, it is your job to make sure your child has a healthy self-esteem, and believe it or not, healthy hair is connected to self-esteem!
Seek out the help of someone in a salon if you are lost. Use the recommendations of friends/family/coworkers that have a similar texture.
You don’t have to feel embarrassed if you are lost. Trust me, the learning curve was huge for me too…and I have curly hair!
I’d love to help you take the frustration out of styling your child’s curly hair. When you purchase my e-book, The Frustration-Free Guide to Curly Hair, it will answer all your curly hair questions + you’ll get a guide to products by curl type!
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