Bringing my guest blogger series to a close is T. Denise Anderson. Blogger. Tweeter. Natural beauty as well as a full-time wife, mom, and professional.With a sharp wit and great sense of humor, Denise serves up some thoughtful and often hilarious commentary on current events and more in her Twitter and Facebook feeds. Visit Denise’s blog here and be sure to follow her on Twitter! Denise shares with us one of the challenges parents and care givers of little naturlista’s face when the weather is warm and trips to the pool abound.
Protective Styles: Protecting Heads (and sanity)!
I have a confession to make: I used to be vehemently against little girls wearing extensions in their hair. Coming from a very conservative family where some things were simply reserved for when you were older, extensions seemed a bit too “grown” to me. That is until the summer started and my own 5-year-old started going to the pool regularly.
What do you do when you have a child who has no fewer than five tons of 4b hair, has the nerve to be tender-headed, and goes to the pool with her summer day camp at least twice a week?
photo courtesy of T. Denise Anderson
Braids and cornrows were fine on her, but regular swimming can put some wear and tear on the styles. A style that would normally last a couple of weeks lasts just a few days on my kid once you factor in the pool. And swimming caps? Good luck getting her to keep track of those! They grow legs around here. And since I really don’t intend on spending a small fortune replacing swim caps every week or buying stock in Speedo, I finally bit the bullet and decided extensions were our best bet this summer.
Like all the women in our family, my daughter and I are susceptible to severe traction alopecia, so we need styles that are easy on our edges. For that reason, I love crochet braids for myself. Ever the cheapskate – and because I had a bad experience with a braid shop that left me with bald patches and scared my psyche for life – I usually do my own braids. I don’t braid tightly, but I also don’t braid quickly. And since my daughter has much more hair than I do, what would normally take me an hour to do for myself would take two hours for her. How I got the bright idea to give her crochet Senegalese twists is beyond me.
photo courtesy of T. Denise Anderson
photo courtesy of T. Denise Anderson
It took two evenings and a morning; one evening to cornrow the hair, one evening to start the crochet twists, and the following morning to finish them. Much of it was accomplished while she slept, which is fine with me because it at least guaranteed some peace. Like I said, she’s tender-headed. When God gave her a triple portion of hair, She forgot to give her the follicular fortitude to withstand the styling. As a bribe to get her to even consent to getting her hair done, I promised her blue hair. The child loves all things blue. If I could find a way to make spinach blue, she would eat it. Blue hair would never fly in her buttoned-up Lutheran school, but hey, it’s summer! If she can have a little fun and I can keep my sanity for a while, so be it.
We’re about a month in with this style and soon it’ll be time for the take-down. No one is looking forward to that. She has already vowed to keep her hair the way it is, which is really because she doesn’t want it done. I guess that means it’s time for another bribe. What color should I offer this time?
Denise is a wife, mom, professional, and minister living in the DC area. She blogs at two places: http://thesoulstepford.com and at the more churchy http://soulascriptura.com.