Whew...it's been a LONNNNGGGG day!!
Update:
I found a braider!! She lives about two miles away. I talked to her about the condition of my daughter's hair, and I swear if my mouth didn't drop open when she told me her plan of action...I SWEAR she must be a member/lurker on a hair board! The first thing she said was that her primary clients are children and that she encourages natural hair care. She is natural herself and she said that she has successfully transitioned many young girls from relaxer to natural with braided protected styles. The second thing she said was that she wanted to have a consultation with me a DD tomorrow morning, and that before she puts ANY braids in her hair she wants to do an elasticity test. Okay, so far, she knows what she's talking about. She said that she wants to strengthen with an Aphogee treatment to build it up before she puts braids in it. She said that she will do her hair once a month, including washing and take-down, if DD gets cornrows. If she gets individuals, she will re-do them every 6-8 weeks. Member Lisatamika, who has been to my house a few times with her husband, and who is VERY ANGRY with me for not asking her for help (I apologize again, I didn't know that I needed help until I got home to DD's hair!!), is going to come over Saturday or Sunday and we are going to iron out a plan of action for weekly maintenance of DD's hair, including taking her to her braid appointments. DD most likely will get her hair braided tomorrow morning so that she can show off at her PRINCESS BIRTHDAY BASH tomorrow afternoon!! So there will be plenty of pics of her braided hairstyle posted by tomorrow.
2. DD can't go with Dad, no way, no how. Dad has not lived in California for over a year. He lives in Illinois. He comes to "visit" whenever. He was right here in this very house about a week and a half ago to come and get some of his belongings. Did he see DD's hair? Yep! Did he do anything about it, ask questions or call me? Nope!
3. Can't sue the cousin. See, in order for her to make decisions for the children on my behalf why I am away, she was given Temporary Legal Guardianship...signed and notarized with a Federal Seal. In effect, I have given her permission to do what she determines is necessary in caring for the children. I can always revoke it, but...I don't know what to make of her actions, she has never been willfully malicious to me, as far as I know. I do cut her some serious slack, although I have to re-think how I've been handling things. Since she is staying here, her family (almost-ex included), has been putting extreme pressure on her to walk away from our arrangement. They want her to take a side, and it appears that she has taken mine so they have so-called "disowned" her. When my almost-ex was here last week, he threatened her and said that she and I are "plotting against him." It's not as simple as kicking her out. She is a member of the household....sigh...if there was someone else willing to help me then they would've stepped up to the plate by now. I am running out of options. I don't know...I think she is just lazy as Hell. Or overwhelmed. Or both. We are going out for a bit tonight, to get away from the kids and have a "Come-to-Jesus" meeting. Hopefully, if she wants out and is just being passive aggressive, then she will let me know. I'll update everyone tomorrow.
I will be back to this shortly, I have a ton of wonderful members that I need to return PM's too, and I need to also contact a few by phone and email that have reached out to me to offer their help.
I'll be back!
....maybe some kind of half-time nanny just for when she is coming home from school if cost is not prohibitive? I'm just really concerned with anyone that would enact this type of behavior on a child especially when given explicit instructions not to do so. It goes to the motive of this type of behavior and makes me question her cousins ability to properly care for ANY child.
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She wasn't even woman enough tell you what was going on.
. THIS is what burns me up about "folx" and their jealousy and envy toward another person. While your cousin's bi-racial child is on one side, hair perfectly healthy and taken care of, your baby is pushed to the side as if she is yesterday's garbage. Does she not DESERVE to have healthy hair or something? I won't even go there on the political side of it. I am burning up. Why did I know you were gonna say what she said, VERBATIM, about the maintenance involved in taking care of your baby's hair? I am so SICK AND TIRED of "us" saying the same ol S*&! about "our" hair and how it is TOO this or TOO that and the ONLY thing that will FIX it is a relaxer!!! 
I know thats right! When my dd goes to her dads house for the weekend this has been a concern for me too. That is why usually I send her in twists because I don't want them up in her hair. They comb too roughly, tight ponytails, all that and i'm not having it. This chile best not EVA come here with a perm or there will be a ww3 up in this ****
. This is one of my fears when she is the care of others. I know her hair is hard to deal with, I fight with it everyday. But it really pisses me off that people have the nerve to do this with no regard to the up keep of having a relaxer. Who says I want the responsibility of maintaining a relaxer amongst all the other things I need to do as a mother???????? It pisses me off that these people clearly know that a relaxer is something that cant be changed once its done, and with the little bit of knowledge they do have when it comes to hair they know that according to what the majority thinks a relaxer has to be done every 4-6 weeks, what gives them the right to decide that’s something I want to do when there arses are at home laying up and I have to maintain this new chore they have decided to give me. I swear I feel like calling her fathers momma and them right now and tell them if they even think about putting any kind of chemicals, blow dryers, curling irons, hot combs. Flat irons or anything else near her head I will choke the breath out of them all and DD hasn’t even left yet 
