My Hair: The Early Years

The relationship I have had with my hair over the years could be described as on again off again.  When I was born I had very little hair, my mother told me she used to tape bows on my head so people would stop asking about her cute little boy.  My hair took its sweet time growing.

By the time I entered kindergarten, I had enough hair that my mom thought it was time to continue the family tradition of my first home perm.  This is a tradition that dies with me as I could not subject my girls to any of the trauma I endured.  Meatball head became my new nickname those lovely classmates of mine bestowed upon me.   As my hair grew in length it grew in thickness.  I really never gave my hair much thought until bath time when it would be washed, it was never pleasant to have my hair brushed out as it knotted so easily when it was wet.  One of the worst events occurred when my hair blew into my mustard covered pretzel resulting in a knot that was promptly cut out.  When I entered 5th or 6th grade I wanted a real hair cut and begged to go to a salon.  I was taken to a local chain that was around during the 80’s, I do not remember the name but it was a disappointment to say the least.  I wanted the feathered hairstyle that Charlie’s Angels were sporting, again my hair would not cooperate and it never quite looked the same as the angles I admired.  My hair once again took a back seat in my life to bike riding and climbing trees until the 8th grade when we had class pictures.  I wanted my hair to look pretty and polished like the hair of my classmates.  I twisted the bangs and sides and secured them with barrettes until I was in line for my picture.  Once removed my hair did not look like I had hoped.  Fortunately a caring classmate helped and in an instant tamed my hair and I wound up with what I think is the best school picture ever. 

Shortly after those pictures I convinced my mom to cut my hair to my shoulders, I instantly regretted it.  Before the start of high school I subjected myself to a professional perm, they were actually in style and it turned out much better than the traumatizing home perm.  Growing my hair out through the late eighties and all of the great teased hairstyles was a high point in the life of my hair.

After high school my hair again took a backseat to life.  After the crazy eighties hair styles I did not keep up with the latest styles but just tried to get my hair to look presentable.  I often felt my hair looked messy and not very polished. The easiest thing was to just let it grow so I could keep it in a ponytail.  Some years back I was on a mission to tame my frizzy hair, the internet held a wealth of information on the subject.  One thing that made a big difference is that I stopped using towels to dry my hair and now use a tee shirt.  It is easier on the hair and results in less frizzing. The other thing that made a difference was to wash my hair weekly instead of daily, I was over washing it and stripping the natural oil so I was drying out my hair. Recently, I learned about hair type classifications, there are plenty of sites that can help you determine this and then give you helpful information on hair care.  I am a 2B, my hair is coarse, thick, and has natural curls.  As with many things in my life, I find education is the key to making things better and here is another example.  I challenge you to find out your hair type if you don’t already know.  Is there anything new to learn about caring for your hair type?  Do you have a special routine for your hair?  Please tell me about it in the comments.