My Crowning Achievement

For those of you who know me even remotely well, you will understand why this is such a HUGE accomplishment for me. Hair is not my forte. I like to believe that for that reason alone, my daughter decided to spend the first 3 years of her life relatively hairless. However, even still her hair gets "longer" by the day, creating more problems for her mother.
Kameryn has a ... unique ... texture to her hair and combined with my prowess it makes for an interesting time creating a hairdo that it acceptable to the public. Sadly, even when her hair is done, it has this distinctly not-done look about it. I think it is all the frizz and wireryness of the whole mess.
I have tried to make a goal for myself to make our family more presentable on a regular basis. (Good thing I am having another boy, they generally just need a good face washing and clean, matching, clothes. Us girls, on the other hand, are a different story.)
Not being one with a large hair doing IQ, I often look outside to gain inspiration. Basically, it just means that I look at others (and their children) who look like they have it together and I try to copy what I see. The other day at the mall, while my children were playing in the "play spot" I was doing my usual people watching. I saw the cutest little girl with the cutest little hairdo. (Actually I saw 2 or 3 little girls with the same hairdo....she just happened to be the cutest) Since that moment, I have been trying in vain to recreate it on my daughter. The first three times it ended in screams of unhappiness (from both of us) She generally cried because "it hurt". I usually cried out of frustration and a sheer feeling of patheticness.
However, each time I learned valuable information. For instance, spacing and parting; it looks dorky if one pony tail is on the top of her head when the other is sticking out of the side. Also, parts should be straight, and likewise not on a diagonal (unless you are going for that look...which I wasn't) Another thing I learned, when you have hair the texture that Kameryn's is, it is best to do it when wet and then hairspray the heck out of it, this prevents/contains the flyaways and helps the parts stay long enough for you to get the elastic in. And lastly, the single most important lesson I learned, don't do the elastics too tight. I think this was my general problem from the beginning. Granted, her hair looked awful (so not cute) my first 3 attempts, it wouldn't have mattered anyway because she ALWAYS ripped it out within the first 3 minutes, crying that it hurt. I tried bribery, yelling, tantrums, you name it (I was frustrated, it took me a long time to make her hair look that ridiculous) however, none of it worked. Inevitably, she would wait until I turned my back and than she would rip it out.
I had almost given up on my quest for cute little girl hairstyles when I decided to give it one more try. This time, I implemented all my new found knowledge. I started with a wet head,. Then I made sure Kameryn looked at me when I put the first part in, making sure it was just where I wanted it, and perfectly straight, but not diagonal. As I placed each elastic in, I paid special attention to wear I put it, so I didn't have some on top and some to the side, they were looking harmonious. Lastly, the most important step, I placed the elastics in looser than I usaully would. I was concerned about this last step, but decided to give it a try and just make sure the last elastic I put in held everything in place.
Guess what!! It worked! Not only did it work but Kameryn looked adorably presentable and she kept it in for a remarkable 4 hours (long enough for church which was all I cared about. She took it out for nap time.) YAY!! So, I just had to post the pictures. This is my crowning achievement. (By the way, her hair looks adorable today as well, and it is in a different style from yesterday. I am so amazing I amaze myself.)
Sorry for the excess in pictures, but I was so proud....I'm sure you understand.



This last picture doesn't really showcase her cute hair, but it makes me laugh. Here she reverts back to her version of posing. Gotta love it!