I was raised by a single dad since my mom died when I was 5. We lived in a town with one other black family, but there was an African American beautician who had a shop about 1/2 hour away. We lived 500 miles from any relatives, so my dad took me to the beauty shop every Wednesday for a press and curl. I hated that hot comb coming at me and I used to flinch like nobody's business! She refused to give me a relaxer until I was 13, but I kept begging anyway. At some point she did give in and I had a Vigarol. Do you remember those? I guess the purpose was to loosen the curl, cause you could still wear a press and curl with it. I lived 5 minutes from the beach and within walking distance to three pools and I spent every moment I could in the water, but that didn't stop me from getting that perm at 13.
All of my cousins wore there hair naturally, but they had moms who knew what they were doing. As a result, their hair grew long and strong. And when they did finally get perms, their hair thrived. I, of course, had no idea what I was doing, and my hair never grew beyond neck length.
I went natural 12 years ago when my daughter was born. It was a conscious decision to show her more than one possibility. She's got a close group of friends and all but one is natural. They all have a variety of textures and styles ranging from gorgeous, well kept, shoulder length dreads to kinky, coily coifs. The only one who can never go swimming with the group, or get caught in a rain shower, or even do a sleepover without curlers is the child with relaxed hair. And beause of some scalp issues, her hair is now coming out in clumps.
So my kid is thrilled that she's natural. And though I know that this might change for her at any time, I'm holding my ground until I feel as though I've shared with her all of the healthy knowledge and practices that I've learned here.