Pressures of Being a Mom to AA Children

On Sunday afternoon we attended an adoption playgroup at a local gymnastics place in town. The girls had a blast. You should have seen Makenna run down the trampoline and crawl into the foam pit. She was smiling from ear to ear! Maya also had fun and really enjoyed the crazy big swing that seated at least 4. I too had fun but was kind of bummed too.

Honestly I felt like maybe an inch high at most. You see, I put a lot of pressure on myself even though I shouldn't. I know I can be way too hard on myself. Sunday I felt horrible about the lack of time and effort that I have been putting forth on Maya's hair. I rarely even "style" it anymore for so many reasons. I know my reasons are all legit but it doesn't make me feel any better. All the other little cutie pies had their hair perfectly done thanks to their mothers. One mom spent 7 hours adding yarn to her daughter's box braids. It was beautiful! I can't even imagine spending that kind of time on my daughter's hair. I failed to mention this same mom has a total of 5 kids and both of her AA girls had beautifully styled hair. I am in awe of her.

Sunday night was bath night at our house. After we gave both girls a bath and washed/conditioned their hair, I decided to style each of the girl's hair. I felt the need to prove to myself that I could still braid and style Maya's hair.  I spent some time looking online for some inspiration and finally decided on doing piggyback braids.  For Makenna, I decided to just do one single cornrow considering she is not a fan and Dave had to help me out and hold her. 

It is hard being a white mother of two Ethiopian daughters.  I want to do the right things when it comes to their hair and skin as it is important to me.  I never want to be that mother who doesn't do anything with their hair and only throws it up into a ponytail because it is convenient and easy.  Like my friend said, it is all priorities. 

Here are some pictures of the girls' hair.  Pretty cute if you ask me :)