Hair Day

Today’s hair styling was not a shining example of how it can be a bonding moment between mother and daughter.  Miss Imagination was whiny.   Very, very whiny.  I admit that it may have pulled a bit more than normal–I normally do her hair when it’s still wet, right after washing, so it’s easier to slide out any tangles.  But today I did her hair dry, after washing it yesterday.
After wearing it free yesterday (I didn’t take any pictures, but it was cute!), I parted it down the middle last night, then put it in 4 big braids.  Then, this morning I styled it as I had planned.  But because it was free yesterday and I didn’t really detangle it last night (she was kind of grumpy then, I just wanted her to get to sleep!), parting it involved separating a lot of curls, which I guess hurt more than normal today.

You see, Miss Imagination normally doesn’t cry at all when I do her hair.  I do not consider her to have a tender head.  Sometimes she gives a quick exclamation, but she hardly ever fusses unless she’s just bored.  Today, she fussed from the get-go.  I tried doing her hair while she played in her room, but my fingers weren’t working smoothly enough to handle that much head motion today.  So we came downstairs and watched some more Martha Speaks.  That helped, and we got through.  The first half of her head I did not do a great job, but I resisted the urge to take them out and do them again, in the interest of not exasperating my daughter any further.  And as it settled, I admit they don’t look too bad.

I’m still new to cornrows.  Last hairstyle was the first time I’ve done more than just the front “bangs”, and that was only two.  They came out fabulously, much better than this week.  But, it’s still good practice, and after getting the video, it wasn’t too miserable for either of us.

Here it is from the front.  From this far, it doesn’t look too bad.  I love how the cornrows into big puffs worked out.  The puffs softened a lot after I shaped them with a little water and my hands.

And here, this is the vulnerable, “I don’t always know what I’m doing” picture:  from the back, with the flash on, exposing the funky cornrows and not-quite-straight parts.

I do really like the style, though, and I’m excited for her to wear it this week.  I will probably end up doing small twists or braids out of the puffs later on this week.