I Whip My Hair!

WOW! Have we had an exciting morning!!! Today Grace had a hair appointment. Her hair is getting longer and I thought it would be fun for her to have some braids put in. I have three hair styles in my bag of tricks, and one is a headband, so Grace's choices are very limited :)

Being the little diva that Grace is - remember, she LOVES to be fancy- I thought braids would be fun for her. We do not live in the most diverse area, so I called a beauty school to see if they had anyone who specialized in AA hair...did they!

Now...to be honest, this is the first time since we came home from Ethiopia, that Grace has been around so many African American people...Those of you that know Grace know that she has quite a personality. She is very social and fun-loving. Well...When she saw a group of AA women coming to get her after we checked in at the beauty school, she reverted back to the most quiet, shy, mute little thing that you ever did see! I knew what was going through her mind. I told her that I was not going anywhere and that I would be sitting with her the whole time. I knew she was unsure of all of the attention being paid to her by the women at the school (keep in mind, about 10-15 people - many who were close to Grace's complexion- kept coming over to her to talk to her and tell her how "cute" she was). On the car ride home, Grace told me she was scared. I asked her if she thought it was a lot of Ethiopian people. She said yes and was a little bit afraid that they would take her away...break my heart!!!

After the initial shyness, Grace warmed up. The two ladies who worked on Grace's hair were awesome! They were so kind and let Grace play with the fake head of hair pictured here...They were very impressed when Grace showed them how she braids hair...seriously...she is so good at it. Beauty school students were coming over to check out Grace's work- she's that good!
The whole time, I was planning on braids. I knew Grace would love them. What I DIDN'T plan on was beads! Sweet Jamel who was helping with Grace's hair said..."I'm going to see if I can find some beads..." I just laughed, because I knew Grace would LOVE it if she had beads in her hair. I was going to have to "get over it" and let her have beads- even if they don't match every outfit she wears!!!

The finished product...Grace's smile says it all! She was in heaven! The first thing she did when she got out of the chair was, of course, "whip her hair back and forth!" - for those of you who are not familiar with the song, pause our blog music and watch the video below...She has been dying to "whip" her hair since the first time she heard the song...

When we got into the car, she said "I LOVE it!!!!"

F.A.N.C.Y.!!!

What a sweet girl! Can't wait to see how long this style lasts. The ladies at the beauty school gave me some "product" suggestions and a few tips. They said Grace has "good hair" and will never need any chemicals, etc. in her hair. They were really kind and said that many AA people would love her hair type. They also said I was doing a good job, which made me feel pretty happy...I have been wondering about my very limited experience with AA hair.

And now, for your viewing pleasure... "I Whip My Hair Back and Forth!"

(pause music at the bottom of the blog)