Never say what you would never do as a parent because it will absolutely get tested. The universe is chaotic. I said that I would never loc my girls’ hair while they were young because I wanted something like that to be their decision. In fact, I stopped my loc journey so I could be a natural hair example for them. However, our Paris is autistic with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). The wind blowing lightly will have her completely trembling. She still puts everything in her mouth to chew on to overcome the sensations in her mouth, and she absolutely deplores getting her hair done. I know what you are thinking, “Tasha, all little Black girls hate getting their hair done. It’s a right of passage.” Two things: 1) I don’t believe my girls have to suffer ANYTHING just because I did. However , I did try to explain to Paris that our (Black Women) hair was kinky curly and a bit more work. That this was something all little Black girls deal with weekly. I even have adorable Black baby hair books.
2) Paris doesn’t comprehend the ritual, the need.. etc. When I’m telling her sweetly all the reason why I’m sorry and why this is necessary pain, she doesn’t comprehend any of it. She just knows it hurts. Even the parting hurts.
And I’m very gentle. I don’t comb kinky curly hair unless it’s wet with conditioner. I start at the ends while holding the hair to protect the roots and I use a detangling brush. We don’t use rubberbands just satin ties, but it’s all excruciating to Paris.
Her daddy had to hold her hand and feed her snacks while I did her hair. So we decided to loc Paris’ hair and I decided to join her in the journey. I had @pslovejoli coil my hair. However, C and I agreed we didn’t want to subject her to Paris’ screams, so I twisted Paris’ hair myself. It was the best decision for us, and we love our journey. I’m especially excited about her not worrying about something that causes her so much pain but once every 6 weeks.