(and hopefully the last until she reaches her teens).
When Kenyah was born, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t a. Relax her hair b. pierce her ears c. put hair extensions on her hair… until she gave me good reason to. The relaxer part was not negotiable though; she had to turn 13 first before even considering it; hopefully by then she’d be too happily nappy to even care.
Four years later, lady goes to crèche; starts making friends of a few races then in came peer pressure!! Last year she asked for “earrings”…what she meant was studs. When I asked her why, her answer was straight up “Because you also wear them and look like a lady” ((BOOM))…okay. Guess mama got to lead by example huh. There was a absolutely no way I was gonna ditch my jewelry. Even after mommy and daddy finished giving her the you’re-beautiful-just-as-you-are talk, little lady still insisted on getting the studs because all her friends wore some. So off we went to the pharmacy to have her little ears pierced and on that day she had her first studs! It was until after the wedding that she grew tired of them.
As for the braid extensions, her reason was pretty much similar to the “earrings” one – mama got braids sometimes also, not to mention a few friends at creche. I’ve been very hesitant on this one for almost a year but eventually gave in and decided to let her get the chunky ones (aka da Brats). So last week I took her to Ntombi and asked her to make them as loose and thick as she possibly could. An hour later she was done. I like that they aren’t tight, therefore not posing any harm to her scalp and hairline as a result. Why I’m hoping she outgrows them like she did earrings – she’s now making all these Caucasian girl ag-my-hare(s) and seems to be REALLY feeling herself…that bothers me…a lot.
On the flip side, she now wants to BC following mommy’s recent chop! That’s not happening, sorry.