This hair thang

When I was pregnant with Isaiah I thought I wanted a girl. I say "thought" because of course I was wrong. I got exactly what I wanted - the best boy ever. But I "thought" i wanted a boy for various reasons. For one because I always hoped to have three and I wanted it just like I grew up, two girls first and then a boy. I also thought I'd have a better chance of convincing Broderick of adopting if we had two girls. I've assumed if we adopted it would be a boy. AND I had a girl and wanted exactly what I had and loved. So one day right after I had had Isaiah I was walking into the house and ran into my neighbors cousin and she asked what i had had. She knew, or I told her that I wanted another girl. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "No, two heads of hair to do? It's much better this way." How right she was. Noah's hair is one of the most gorgeous things about it. Since she was a baby, it's what everyone notices. It's wild, a different and beautiful. BUT!! But, it takes at least 20 minutes every day to brush. As I am writing this she is whining behind me, begging me to straighten her hair. Now, i am not some crazy white mom who has put it into her head that straight hair is better. What has happened is a mixture of influences. I use a flat iron to get the frizz out. Most of the girls at her school have long straight hair. Now, I have at least 8 books that talk about the beauty of ethnic hair. I have African books about hair, I have vintage books about hair. I have clever funny books about hair and all of them emphasize how important it is to love your hair. I tell her all the time I love her curls and how beautiful hair takes work. I have had her dad tell her the same thing in his way. But, honestly, I tired of dealing with it. About 2 years ago I came very close to cutting it short, but a friend stepped in and begged me not to. I'm afraid Noah is going to look back at all the pictures of her as a child and notice a fuzzy halo surrounding her head. But I've seen the light. After this same friend suggested getting her hair straightened for special events of holidays, I felt the pressure ease. I needed a black woman to give me permission to "do something" to her hair. I have since done the following. I've taken her to JC Penny and had it straightened. And I had braids put in it. Both for the low. low cost of about $60. The braids lasted two weeks and were cute, and fun and so, so easy. The straight hair last for a little under a week and Noah bawled when it came time to wash it. It's an interesting thing this hair thing.