Patience
April 29, 2009
(The French braid. Not to be confused with any other kind of braid)
I have been attempting to French braid my daughter’s hair since she had hair long enough, but she was never that keen on having me do it. I like it because it keeps all of the front of her hair out of her face. But she was impatient. She didn’t want to have to wait soooooo long to have her hair done. She is busy. She has places to go. Things to do. Episodes of Hannah Montana to watch.
A couple weeks ago one of my friends, who has only sons, asked her if she could French braid her hair. My daughter sat there on the baseball bleachers and never moved, never complained, and never grabbed her head in exaggerated agony. Everyone made such a big fuss over her hair that she wants to have French braids almost everyday. And even the days when doesn’t want to have French braids, she willingly lets me brush her hair.
It is like a miracle. No more fighting and fussing. No more chasing her through the house with the hairbrush begging for her to let me get the rat nest under control.
She is willing to endure the pulling and tugging. Realizing that maybe in the end it is worth it.
Patience. There is a lesson for my life in there somewhere I think.
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I am very bad when it comes to braiding (doing anything with hair) but my girlfriend did what is called a fishbone braid on sams hair at a basketball game. if your friend knows how to do that braid it was awesome.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:33 pmShe may also have figured out that it’s much cooler in the warm temps with all that hair off her neck and back!
April 29th, 2009 at 2:35 pmLet me know when you find out what the lesson is! BTW you looked too cute on the BackTalk episode. I was so excited to be featured by Lindsay. I’m a supa-star!! Ok…not really… :o)
April 29th, 2009 at 2:48 pmWhat a pretty girl. Even from the back!
April 29th, 2009 at 2:51 pmHer patience paid off well.
So cute! Whenever we were all together, my sister, cousins and I would all have my mom french braid our hair each morning. It must have taken her an hour because there were 7 of us girls!!
April 29th, 2009 at 2:52 pmSo pretty! I could use a similar miracle with my 5 year-old daughter. You would think I was beating the child if you heard her screams while I fix her hair.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:09 pmOh, it looks so pretty! I must work on my patience…both to let my daughters hair grow longer and to practice all that French braiding. I swear, my fingers just don’t *do* that!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:12 pmI used to French braid my daughter’s hair right after she got out of the shower. Add a little gel and comb it thru before braiding, and her hair stayed nice for the entire next day (even after sleeping on it). Believe me, your daughter will get older and you will actually miss those times!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:13 pmThis EXACT thing has happened to me. My next door neighbor, who is my best friend here, has 3 daughters and Mia adores them all. My friend fixed Mia’s hair one day, and since then she is all about her hair and such. It is a riot…..and a relief. The hair wars were insane and now they are over!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:19 pmJust another thing that I have to learn how to do….. girls are hard!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:22 pmI would so love to french braid my daughters’ hair. They have the hair and the patience, unfortunately I lack the skillz!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:31 pmOh I can’t wait until we reach this day! I am always chasing my daughter with a hairbrush in hand begging her to just stop for a second. If only she would see that the amount of time wasted avoiding the hairbrush could have been halved by just sitting still for one dang second!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:42 pmNothing is sweeter than little girls in braids.
I am a 1st grade teacher and my students are the same way. Their parents can not believe they let me put their hair up or braid it….and they beg me to do it. Isn’t funny the things kids will do for people other than their parents? My daughter does not like me to mess with her hair, but I blame it on messing with it too much as a baby. Beautiful girl by the way!
April 29th, 2009 at 4:37 pmLong time reader, first time commenting (I think).
Is it wrong that I’m jealous she has tan lines already?
April 29th, 2009 at 4:37 pmI have three daughters with long hair, and you would think I would know how to french braid. But I don’t. No effing clue. I’d like to learn, but I just don’t get it. Regular braiding, I’m fine. The french variety, no dice. It looks extremely cute on your daughter.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:54 pmVery pretty…
April 29th, 2009 at 5:06 pmAs a mom to five boys and a daughter who is too old to want me to do her hair, can I just say, “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! How pretty!”
April 29th, 2009 at 6:32 pmMy niece SCREAMS when my sister or my mom tries to brush her curly, tangled mop of hair. When I come to town, she ASKS me to brush her hair and never once complains. It always amuses me that when Aunt Jamie does it, it “doesn’t hurt!”
April 29th, 2009 at 6:40 pmIt’s these little miracles that get us through their childhood years. And dang, (a Texas swear word) I never could get the hang of that.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:51 pmI had to take my daughter to her grandmother’s house last weekend to get her hair french braided because I don’t know how! I keep telling myself I have to learn how to braid hair, but I never remember to take the time.
P.S. I love the tan lines on your daughter’s back. So refreshing the summer is here and we are getting our vitamin D!
April 29th, 2009 at 7:23 pm3 daughters and many French braids. They’re too old now so I’m hoping for some grandaughters someday. Hope I won’t forget how!
April 29th, 2009 at 7:27 pmI always did that for my girls..:) My favorite.It suits your daughter to a T:)
April 29th, 2009 at 7:46 pmLOVE the second shot.
The braid w/only-seen-on-kids natural highlights, the girly necklace, and the X-marks-the-spot tan line (in April!).
April 29th, 2009 at 8:17 pmWith 3 boys before my girl, will you come teach me how to french braid? I always say that God gave me boys because I don’t know how to “do” hair. When I wanted #4, I guess He said “Fine, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself in to, but I’ll give you a girl so you know I was right.”
She was born bald, and only has a little now that she’s 13 months. But, in a few years, I’m driving to Austin for a lesson, ok?
April 29th, 2009 at 8:31 pmHow long did you have to wait for this? I keep on day dreaming of the french braid for my daughter…or maybe just a really short, darling, super easy short hair cut. But I really wish for long hair–with fewer battles. Lucky you!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:50 pmI tell myself that THE reason I cannot successfully french braid is because my daughter won’t sit still long enough for me to learn. It works for me.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:05 pmMaybe turning 6 turned on some sort of Magic switch.
Who knows what went through her mind while she was getting it done out there at the baseball. Maybe it was just the fact someone else did it followed by a huge positive response to it made her decide it was worth having neat tidy hair after all.
You used to be able to get these little plastic devices that made braiding in all sorts of ways much easier. I don’t know if they are still available or even what they are called, but I do remember that they came with quite easy to follow instructions. Keep your eyes open and I’ll keep mine open for them too.
Take Care.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:24 pmLots of Love Carolynn . An extra large hug for Miles too.
That last shot is so beautiful!
April 29th, 2009 at 9:37 pmMy daughters hate the french braid from me too. But if my sister, one with no children, ask to do it. The girls all line up! But my middle daughter has the worst hair ever. light stringy..fine..UGH blow aways always in her eyes..
April 29th, 2009 at 10:03 pmshe looks awesome!
xoxo
ronee
Love french braids.
Use them lots for gym comps. That style in photo we call “under”, and then there’s the cool “on top” style whereby by plaiting it differently the plait (sorry, you say braid) looks like someone glued a braid ontop of the head. Locks wispy bits in better too. Then anal people like me go to town and do two or three of them on one head. Haven’t gone as far as cornrows yet though.
I love doing them across the top of the head from one ear to the other at a slight angle.
My girls liked braiding when wet, then leaving overnight, comb out in the morning for the “Hermione Granger look” - all kinky frizzy LOL
Another, seriously cool thing to do (but can be a bit snaggy) is “honeycomb”. This uses lots of teeny elastics and the hair ends up looking like a honeycomb pattern. Very good for the dreaded “growing out the fringe” stage of long hair. Fringe = bangs for you in the US I think.
French braids are good to threaten boys with when they’re in need of a haircut but are refusing to go to the hairdresser….
April 29th, 2009 at 10:42 pmPatience. Something I struggle with every day.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:23 pmI have six sisters. My oldest sister was awesome at french braiding and used to do it for all of us before school in the morning.
Excellent!
April 30th, 2009 at 12:42 amGorgeous! My daughter also has beautiful long hair but I have yet to try french braiding. Maybe I will show her the pictures and we will learn together. I love the “girliness” of it all.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:46 amI do K’s hair just about every time I see her. She pretty much doesn’t let mom do it at all.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:58 amThen again, I was the same way. My mother was NOT allowed to do my hair no matter what because all she ever did was hurt - and in fact, still does any time she has tried to help in the past few years.
We’ve been in a braiding phase around here - but I almost always do two braids and have just recently learned how to do a zigzag part before beginning the French braid. Someone else mentioned fishtail which is awesome and really simple.
There are a ton of websites that feature moms doing their daughters’ hair. Sometimes K and I scour over the computer trying to decide what to attempt next!
Reading this makes me wish I had daughters.
I remember french braiding the hair of all my teammates before softball and volleyball games. After I got good at it, I even learned to weave in colored ribbon to match our uniforms. Man, we thought we were COOL!!
April 30th, 2009 at 1:08 amPatience - now because she is six - and can READ that she is your sunshine?
Very pretty - and I’m a little jealous that you only left CT about 6 weeks ago (is that right?) and she is showing signs of TAN LINES … as are your baseball playing boys.
I won’t be jealous in July and August mind you - just a little bit … now.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:00 amlove the braid and i love the story.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:27 amI have to do two french braids in my daughter’s hair - one on each side because it’s so short so when she plays soccer it’s not all over the place.
We run a bit of marathon around the house on those mornings while I try to get her to let me do it.
I’m with you though - it looks cute and it keeps the hair out of her face.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:30 amOh yes. Love to french braid. Side ones, two, one, circle ones. Unfortunately I have only boys, lol.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:07 amBeautiful!! I always loved it when my mom would french braid my hair and I hope to learn how to do it one day, seeing as how I’m not skilled in that area. Your daughter is such a lovely young lady - so dainty. Love how you can see her little tan lines.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:25 amWe have the same problem here and I often threaten to cut “all of it off”. It doesn’t help that I am not so good in the hair department.
I think we need a tutorial, that braid looks so pretty.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:28 amYou have to have someone photograph your hands braiding your daughter’s hair… It will be a treasure for her later. :o)
There were 3 of us girls in the family - there was a lot of braiding going on :o)
April 30th, 2009 at 10:43 amOh I use to love to french braid all the neice’s hair, now they are in thier 20’s and they are too old. But thankfully I have the nephews, who are also in thier 20’s and they are all doing the long hair thing so I braid theirs. They are too kind to their auntie to say no to me. I love it!!!
April 30th, 2009 at 1:18 pmI love french braids on little girls! My daughter just let me french braid her hair for the first time the other day…precious!
April 30th, 2009 at 2:15 pmOh, I remember the days when my mom would pull at my hair and lecture me that it hurts to be beautiful! I just let my 5 yr old lop her hair off because I was tired of the fighting.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:27 pmHow adorable with the little earrings and necklace, and pretty highlights in her braid. I need to learn to do this, my daughters soooo got the short end of the hairstyling moms stick with me!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:09 pmand i always thought it was the style of the braid!!
Chris says: Haha!
April 30th, 2009 at 6:38 pmA million years in high school I could do my own and my friends’ French braids. I can do all kinds, including the fishtail style. So God then gives me three sons. But when my nieces were younger they’d line up for me to do them. I have a son who had long hair and he is so sweet that he let me do his hair in a braid one night, as long as he could take it out right away.
May 1st, 2009 at 11:04 amI got myself through the long hair years with the little girls. What I really need is advice about BOYS with long hair. I know you have had at least one, for a while. You can’t really get away with braiding it.
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:55 amI have 3 girls: 13, 10 and 8. And they have always had long hair (well…until dance recital, TODAY, is over, then it gets hacked into a summer bob) and LOVE to braid their hair. My favorite was when they were growing out their bangs and I would start at one ear and french braid their hair over the top of their head catching up their bangs in and spray the heck out of it.
Getting them to hold still for it…well, that’s another matter.
I think the braiding thing comes from having the dreaded pixie as a child and never being able to play with my own hair (til HS). So when I learned, I learned on my own head. THAT takes some doing.
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:10 pmI noticed you wrote, “one of my friends…” Does that mean you’ve found your people in TX?
Chris says: Eh, it was easier than wrting the mother of one of the boys on my 8yr old son’s baseball team that I talk to at the field
May 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 pm