Weaves, Braids May Speed Hair Loss

Dave came across an interesting article regarding hair loss in AA women due to weaves and braids.  I have heard hair loss is possible but I never thought much of it considering I am not a professional braider and my braids are not extremely tight.  But it does make me more conscious about styling Maya's hair and how much I pull at her scalp. I certainly do not want to contribute to hair loss of my own daughters' hair.   

If you want to read the article, check it out here. 

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 :)

Hair and Elephant?

What a Sunday we had in our house! The theme of the day - church and hair!

Our day started out bright and early as Dave and I got our much needed Turbo Fire workout in. We then all went to church and listened to Maya sing in church yesterday which I absolutely love. Once we finished up at church, ate our favorite Sunday lunch (pancakes and scrambled eggs), and took a quick nap, we were ready to switch gears and start our second theme of the day, hair.

Maya's amazing daycare teacher, Laura, made a house call yesterday afternoon. Laura straightened Maya's hair, trimmed it, braided it, and beaded it.  I am in awe of Laura's ability especially how easily she added the beads and rubberband.  I thought I was watching a magic show at first :)

Later on Sunday after Makenna was sleeping peacefully, Maya decided it was my turn to get my hair done.  How could I resist?  Maya put many ponytails in my hair.  At one point, Maya leaned over and whispered in my ear "Mommy, you look like an elephant".  I burst out laughing.  I then had her repeat herself and tell Dave.  She leaned towards him and told him exactly what she told me.  We all laughed.  Miss Maya sure has a charming personality.  What a character!  So I guess we had one fun hair day with elephants!

'I Love My Hair': A Father's Tribute To His Daughter

Weeks ago I wrote a post about my terrible morning which you can read here.  On that day my morning didn't go so well considering I fought with Maya and then had to listen to another daycare mother tell me Maya's hair was "messy".  I stood there trying to make excuses for the lack of style when I should had be complementing Maya's hair as it was all natural (and beautiful). 

Today Dave came across this NPR article about an unnamed puppet with an afro singing a song about her beautiful hair.  Part of me wants to print this article out and give it to this daycare mother.  Maybe then she'll think twice about calling Maya's hair messy :)  Seriously read this article and share with others.  African American hair is beautiful and I want both of my daughters to love their hair. 

The following is from the article posted at : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130653300&sc=fb&cc=fp

A little Muppet girl has started a sensation. The unnamed puppet with an afro sings a love song to her hair.


"I Love My Hair" debuted on the Oct. 4 episode of Sesame Street. It was posted on the show's YouTube page — and then women began posting the video on their Facebook pages.


African-American bloggers wrote that it brought them to tears because of the message it sends to young black girls.


Joey Mazzarino, the head writer of Sesame Street, is also a Muppeteer who wrote the song for his daughter. Mazzarino is Italian. He and his wife adopted their 5-year-old daughter, Segi, from Ethiopia when she was a year old.


Mazzarino says he wrote the song after noticing his daughter playing with dolls.
"She wanted to have long blond hair and straight hair, and she wanted to be able to bounce it around," he tells NPR's Melissa Block.


Mazzarino says he began to get worried, but he thought it was only a problem that white parents of African-American children have. Then he realized the problem was much larger.
In writing the song, he wanted to say in song what he says to his daughter: "Your hair is great. You can put it in ponytails. You can put it in cornrows. I wish I had hair like you."


That simple message has caused an outpouring of responses from women. Mazzarino got a call from an African woman who told him the song brought her to tears. "I was amazed, 'cause I sort of wrote this little thing for my daughter, and here this adult woman, it touched her," he says.
Mazzarino says he's happy to report that Segi loves the song — and her hair.

Twists

About 2 weeks ago, I tried out a new hairstyle on Maya's hair.  I thought it turned out fairly cute but it didn't hold too well.  Maya's hair is fairly soft so twists don't hold as well as cornrows.  I ended up taking them out after a few days and instead did some cornrows in her hair.  The nice part was her hair was already parted in sections so it didn't take long. 

Here are some pictures of the twists. 


It is fun to try something new but lately we've been doing head bands and ponytails.  So easy.  I'll have to visit the blog Happy Hair for some new ideas.

Hair Blogs

For those who have read my blog for awhile know that I love to blog about hair. I am always looking for new styles and ideas. It is fun to learn how to style Maya's hair and to complete a new "do". Due to my love of learning about Maya's hair, I have found two fun blogs that I must share with you.

The first one is Happy Girl Hair. This blog is a mom of 5 year old twins from Ethiopia. She has great hair ideas, question and answer posts, and features hair related products such as styling products and sleep caps. Check it out!

The second blog is Beads, Braids, and Beyond. This blog has tons of styles to use as inspiration as well as the ability for you to share your hair pictures of your child(ren). I even saw she had a give away to win some Curly Q product. How cool is that?

I hope these two blogs give you all some added inspiration. I know it has given me some to try something new and to keep learning. Enjoy!

Braids

The children at Compassion Family International inspired me to try a new hair style on Maya. This morning I decided to try to braid all of Maya's hair. It was actually much easier than I thought and only took me one Diego show :)

African American Hair Workshop

After 2+ months of partnering and collaborating with the owners of Calypso Hair, the hair workshop finally took place this past Saturday afternoon. Around 15 families joined us, with a few of them even coming from as far away as 3 hours to learn more about African American hair and specifically about their child or children's hair. The expert staff at Calypso Hair talked about relaxers, hair products, simple hair styles, and of course the art of braiding. Families were able to ask questions and even practice their new skills. Most of all, families were able to network with others and meet new families. What a great afternoon/evening and thank you to all the families who came and to the staff at Calypso Hair!

Here Ruthie discusses and demonstrates how to braid

Owners John and Dayo along with the salon manager, Melanie

The salon was full of curious parents and their beautiful children

Here is me trying to braid - Ruthie kept telling me "no" because I was braiding incorrectly and not holding the hair correctly. I was happy to learn the proper way but I have lots of practice to do!

Here is Maya with two of her favorite boys - Owen and Abram.

After the workshop most families headed to the Pizza Ranch for some great food and more socializing. The kids had a blast. It is amazing how quickly they form friendships.

Here is my attempt for a group photo of some of the kids.

Thank you again to all the families who participated and to Calypso Hair for making a dream into a reality!

Tried something new...

Well I had a vision for Maya's hair but it didn't turn out exactly how I planned.  It ended up being cute as I just love her hair pulled back.  I had fun playing and Maya did great.  It helped that Dora was on TV.  Hopefully the hair workshop this Saturday night will give me some very good hair style ideas!

Must Have Children's Books

When attending the EKC Mehaber in Minneapolis, MN a few weekends ago, I came across the book "I Love My Hair". What a great kids story about AA hair. Maya can't seem to get enough of it and she actually has us read her this book every night before bed. This book talks about how beautiful the hair is and all the different ways it can be worn. This book teaches Maya that her hair is beautiful and to be proud of it. I highly recommend purchasing it if you don't already have it. I saw the author has another one out tailored to the boys. I personally haven't read this book but I bet it is worth buying. Both books are available on amazon.com or Amharic Kids.

My Favorite Style

I fought through exhaustion last Friday night and styled Maya's hair.  My sister had to hold her down and my nephew Jack had to entertain her.  Unfortunately my sister doesn't have any Winnie the Pooh shows (which normally distracts Maya).  Regardless, I got a really cute style accomplished and it stayed in for a
week.  I just LOVE the new hair products I bought.  Maya's hair is so much softer, curls are more defined, and the style stays nicer longer.

New Hair Style

On Saturday I tried a new style - what do you think? I have been asked how long did it took and how did I get Maya to sit? Well...it took around 25 minutes and I needed help from Winnie the Pooh, juice, and fruit snacks.

Awesome website - check it out!

I came across this great hair website. This site actually goes step by step on how to create a style. Check it out here! To view more hair style options, go under "Styling".