Grace's Summer Hair

Summer has finally arrived in Wisconsin, and so has Grace's summer hair.  

I have been telling Grace that "the braids are coming" for the past month.  

She was NOT excited about the idea because she remembered how long it takes to do them.

What she didn't remember was how awesome it is to have her hair braided for the summer.

Last year I hired someone to help me (someone who actually knew what she was doing).  She basically taught me how to do the extensions.  It is much easier on Grace if I do the braiding, because then she can take breaks throughout the day without me feeling bad that another person is at our house wanting to get done with the whole process.

So, as soon as Grace's dance recital was over, I began to count down the days until our big braiding day.

When the big day arrived, I brought all the kiddos to school, gathered my supplies, plopped in a DVD that Grace had been wanting to watch, and got started.

It was 9:00 a.m.

 Here is Grace about 11:30.  I'm about 1/4 done.  I start by parting her hair into four sections.  Each section is divided into about 18 little squares (like when doing box braids-  as if I really do box braids on a regular basis).  I use tiny black rubber bands at the top of each square (because that was what I was taught to do).  Some people don't.  Grace was still smiling 1/4 of the way through the process...

We took several breaks throughout the day.  I braided through MANY t.v. shows, DVDs, phone calls, etc.  I braided Grace's hair while she ate lunch.

I was still only 3/4 of the way done when it was time to pick the kids up from school.  Grace was NOT happy about going to pick up the kids with her hair half done.  I promised her that it wouldn't be a big deal, and what do you know?  The first thing the other kids did when they got in the van was comment on how her hair was not braided in the back!  Grace was (dramatically) annoyed. Ugh.

We had to take a little break to get one of the boys to baseball (thank goodness we have Alyssa to help babysit so that Grace didn't have to be humiliated at the ball park).  I skipped out on the game early to head home for more braiding.  At this point, my back and fingers were really starting to get sore.

 Here we are about 8:45p.m.  I feel as tired as I look.  Grace is DONE.  She does NOT want to pose for a picture.  She is "serious!."

 9:00p.m. The home stretch.

 9:30 p.m. All done!!!!  This is all the extra hair that is left over after I finish off the ends of the braids.  

Grace is all smiles again.

Grace loves her "Sassy" hair (I still think it's funny that the brand of hair we use is by Sassy).

She is having fun flipping her hair over her shoulders.  

The kids at school thought she was pretty cool with long hair and braids.

She is getting a lot of positive attention for her new look, and she loves it!

Now she says she loves to have long hair again.  

We will keep the braids for most of the summer (with the occasional touch ups here and there).

AND, yesterday I had the ultimate complement paid to us...we were at Walmart doing a little shopping, and a very nice African American woman approached me and tapped me on the shoulder.  She asked me where I had Grace's hair done.  She was curious because she has two daughters and was thinking of having their hair braided.  Well...I think I beamed when I was able to tell her that I DID IT!  She smiled at me and was a little surprised.  Her husband joined us and there we stood together in Walmart checking out Grace's hair...me giving her pointers on how to do extensions!  It just seemed very funny to me...

If you have a little girl with hair similar to Grace's, I really encourage you to give extensions a try for summer.  They are so low maintenance.  They are great for water.  They seem to really protect Grace's hair.  They also make little girls feel super cool!