Article Contributed on: 9/12/2009 10:55:27 PM
My Ellie has fine hair and it tangles easily and often. Combing out the tangles is not so much a favorite activity for us. Generally, I let her win. I figure it's not that big a deal. In the big picture of life, I would rather a happy child than a perfectly coiffed one. No harm in that. I cut out the gnarly spots when necessary.
The other night I was trying to detangle her hair with gobs of conditioner. It was a battle, sometimes a loud one, but not a long one because I didn't push it and stopped combing. After a few minutes, she asked me to try it again. Iasked her why and she said that a classmate was mean to her about her hair. The first thought that went through my head was "I'm gonna kick me some preschool butt". The second thought was that it was my fault. If I took better care of her hair, my child wouldn't be picked on. I told her that it was silly- to be mean to someone because of their hair. We laughed. I tossed and turned all night thinking about my sad child. I thought about how crazy it is that children are already mean to each other and they're not even FOUR! I thought about my own picked on childhood - I was big, fat kid in school. I thought about how I might be thought ofas 'Bad Hygiene Mom'. Eventually I fell asleep, did not kick preschool butt, worked out a way to better handle my baby's hair and decided I was not Bad Hygiene Mom. And, as always, the time flew by and everything changed.
Elliewill be four in less than two months. She combs her hair till it shines. Another lesson learned and another step away from needing me.