This hair should be understood before you become frustrated. First off a mom of a child with kinky hair needs to know that if you ignore it, it will not go away.
The sooner you understand that this type of hair needs special attention, the better your child will look at those times when you want to be proudest of her.
The things that work on Caucasian hair may not work on the child's hair.
I say " may not" because the range of hair types goes from straight to really kinky.
The shade of the skin does not indicate how straight the hair will be.
In my family we consider ourselves African American, but it is not that simple.
What do we do with the Irish, and French that are definitely apart of who I am.
One of the first things that the women in my family had to deal with was their hair.
From soft silky curls to the most difficult hair to deal with in terms of kink.
Please don't be intimidated by finding help in a salon that caters to African Americans? Even though YOU might get strange looks, as soon as the crowd sees you with a brown sugar baby, hearts will melt and help is right there for the asking.
Understand that your child's hair belongs to people who know what to do with it. Trust is difficult especially when you hear words that would not apply to hair as you have come to know it.
If you hear someone say that the "grade" of your child's hair is nice or course, etc., this is how African Americans talk about the ease or difficulty of the treatment your mixed baby's hair needs.
The types of treatments are going to be time consuming, and not cheap but it is a responsibility that has to be taken seriously. Slacking is not an option.
Just as important as a great hair cut is to the person naturally straight hair is, the proper attention is as important to your kinky kurly kid. May be even more important because, if kinky hair gets matted, sometimes the only solution is to buzz it off. Little girls of any color would probably hate it!
I believe that any question that you have is innocent, and even though you might get weird glances from the stylist, I encourage you to ask about any puzzlement you might have.
My friend "Nyah" is showing us what the proper attention to the hair from a very young age looks like. Her mother is serious about making sure that her girls are treated with great care! Regularly and timely attention. Thanks Char, and Nyah. Beautiful!
Truly
Tommy the Hair Guy:-)
