Traumatized by childhood hairstyles

[drasgrl]

Was there a way your mother fixed your hair as a child that you really hated? What was it? I swear the way my mother did my hair left a lasting impression on my life. I hated it. She would plait my hair in plaits all over my head sometimes with no rhyme or reason, none at all.

Think

Sometimes they would stick up. And of course I had those plastic barretts on the ends. I have one elementary school picture where I'm sitting on the bench and a plait is sticking straight up and it's blocking the face of the boy or girl standing behind me.

And the worst was that I was teased a lot because of the way my mother did my hair. I was called Medussa. I was probably in the 5th grade and my mother was still doing it and I remember the other black girls who were getting perms by then and wearing a little more grown styles would ask me if my mother still did my hair and would say you should tell her you want to wear this style and that. I felt like I didn't fit in with them.

I swore if I ever had a daughter that she would never ever have plaits, never. I wouldn't even think to get those plastic barretts, only ponytails. To this day I sort of shudder when I see a child with dry plaits all over with no rhyme or reason. I feel bad for them.

 

[BostonMaria]

Medusa?!! Kids are so cruel!

I had alot of hair. LOTS of hair! I went to a predominantly white school and I would wonder why their hair was long and always down, my hair was ALWAYS in a bun.

My mom would put my hair in 2-3 buns. Imagine all those buns (in the Dom Republic we call them mon~os) and then she'd slap on a hat.. Good Lord my head looked like I had all these bumps on them. And then there was the two huge Princess Leah buns on the side... I looked like Minnie Mouse LOL There was no complaining though, she would've slapped me

My ten year old daughter HATES the Pokahontas braids I do on her. I think she looks beautiful (I secretly wish they were MY Pokahontas braids) and she says I make her look silly. So I guess the cycle continues.

 

[diamond42377]

Haha, my mother used to plait my hair that way too. She swore it was cute lol. The thing I most hated was wearing it down. She used to press my hair and in the Houston humidity it would just poof. A lot of the girls in my class were already getting relaxers but my hair was a big poofy mess. I felt like an outcast (this was in high school). I couldn't get my own relaxer until I was 18 and as soon as I was able to I got it relaxed and chopped it into a short bob just to spite her. Stupid teenage years.

 

[drasgrl]

Medusa?!! Kids are so cruel!

I had alot of hair. LOTS of hair! I went to a predominantly white school and I would wonder why their hair was long and always down, my hair was ALWAYS in a bun.

My mom would put my hair in 2-3 buns. Imagine all those buns (in the Dom Republic we call them mon~os) and then she'd slap on a hat.. Good Lord my head looked like I had all these bumps on them. And then there was the two huge Princess Leah buns on the side... I looked like Minnie Mouse LOL There was no complaining though, she would've slapped me

My ten year old daughter HATES the Pokahontas braids I do on her. I think she looks beautiful (I secretly wish they were MY Pokahontas braids) and she says I make her look silly. So I guess the cycle continues.

I would have killed for buns. When I was really young like kindergarten I had afro puffs on the side that made me look like Minnie Mouse.

Haha, my mother used to plait my hair that way too. She swore it was cute lol. The thing I most hated was wearing it down. She used to press my hair and in the Houston humidity it would just poof. A lot of the girls in my class were already getting relaxers but my hair was a big poofy mess. I felt like an outcast (this was in high school). I couldn't get my own relaxer until I was 18 and as soon as I was able to I got it relaxed and chopped it into a short bob just to spite her. Stupid teenage years.

My mother would only press my hair for special occasions before the age of 11 after that I pressed it until my early 20's then I started getting regular relaxers.

 

[BostonMaria]

My mom would only press my hair for special occassions as well. I still wasn't allowed to wear my hair down. If I was LUCKY and she was in a good mood, she'd do finger coils in my hair. I used to love that!

 

[Natural Glow]

My mom used to put my hair in a ponytail and twist a little hair on the sides of my head into curls. Looked a little like this...

As a matter of fact she used to do her hair like this too. She thought it was cute. Not a good look.

Oh and she LOVED to brush the baby hair down.

 

[asummertyme]

My mom used to put my hair in a ponytail and twist a little hair on the sides of my head into curls. Looked a little like this...

As a matter of fact she used to do her hair like this too. She thought it was cute. Not a good look.

Oh and she LOVED to brush the baby hair down.

..u didnt put the hassidum up there...

 

[tiffers]

This thread is too funny!!!

Fortunately, I didn't have to go through any of that because UNfortunately, my mom started relaxing my hair when I was 3 erplexed

 

[Channie]

You guys make me feel bad. I will make sure I listen to my little girl if she wants to change her hair (No perms though)

My hair was really THICK! If tried to wear it down... . I couldn't even wear afro puffs cause they would've been entirely too thick. My mom knew early on that she couldn't do my hair dry. And I had to have LOTS of ponytails (with the plastic holders and barettes of course).


One time I took my hair down in school and tried to plait it myself... disaster. Tried to wash it myself... disaster. I learned to let momma handle it, but was jealous I couldn't do a lot of styles that others were doing.

Here's a pic of the ponytails:

 

[melissa-bee]

Lol, this thread is jokes, i got called mudusa too, cos of my single plaits, but it didn't traumatize me.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

SMH YES.
I'm Nigerian, and my mom loved threading my hair. She would make lots of little sections, wrap black shiny thread around them, and then just leave them to stick out all free and wild. Couldn't even pull them into a ponytail for me...she said it would ruin the style.
AND, the Sulfur 8...she would apply that very liberally to my scalp about once every four days or so. And then send me off to school like that. :covereyes

Them evil devil chirrun gave me no. rest.
They used to call me Medusa too, girl. Told me that my hair looked like worms and snakes living in some dirt. Called me Octo-head. And when that Sulfur 8 smell was present, it would whip them into a frenzy. They said that my hair smelled like an old person. One child referred to it as the smell of "Santa's bootyhole".
But on picture day and my birthday, when my hair was pressed and my mom let me wear it out, they were silent. Because all that low-manipulation and sulfur was doing me some good.

ETA: It looked like this:

Just with smaller sections, and not in that loopy shape. Mine just stuck straight up and out.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

My hair was always the trifecta: coily thick and long. My mom is a math professor she's great with equations and formulas but when it came down to my hair sometimes I wasn't too pleased, but alot of times I was, it was hit or miss, it wasnt always the "latest" cool style I wanted to have but it was always neat and had some hang and swang to them due to my length. I loved the beads bows and barettes I think they look adorable in moderation.

She did her best, always encouraged me to stay natural even though my hair was alot for her to handle and when I would come home and tell her all the other girls were telling me to get a relaxer she'd tell me my hair is thick and beautiful just the way it is. I briefly gave into the pressure to relax mostly because we didn't know how to style and handle coily thick long hair and still do "current" styles.

I dont think the answer is to never braid your daughters hair and never use barettes in her hair. Braids and twists are an excellent protective style that will help her to retain length, barettes when used tastefully can be beautiful adornments. The answer is to be sure to use better products and better technique to allow her to have a neat result. All you need to healthy hair habits, styling ability and to listen to your daughter and what look she wants to achieve for that week and you should be good.

 

[ceebee3]

I always had the best braids as a kid, all the girls on my block tried to copy my styles.

My mother couldn't do hair to save her life so I had a weekly appointment with our neighbor Maria.

She was known throughout the hood for her hairstyles.

 

[vainღ♥♡jane]

i hated when my mom did bantu knots on my hair. she made me wear them out! come on! that is traumatizing to a girl on the first day of 7th grade. ♥

 

[my-my]

The only thing I hated was having my hair straightened. I couldn't stand the heat and to this day I don't like heat appliances. I start to shiver and get nervous. Thankfully, my hair didn't get straightened that often, the humidity made it revert quickly.
My hair was always in either braids or cornrows and I didn't have any issues with that.

 

[30something]

My didn't know how to do hair.. period. She still wouldn't bless her heart...

She would put my hair in Bubbles, like this http://pics.livejournal.com/spreemj/pic/0000k390/s320x240. It along with my hair would sit on the top of my head in a pony tail.... Pony tails aren't suppose to sit on the top of you head, if you don't have a lot of hair. It would stick up.. straight. It was all sad and pathetic, she knows that too. Either I wasn't traumatized, no one ever made fun but looking back

 

[LadyRaider]

Two long braids, one on each side of my head. Wore my hair that way forever. Up until 11th grade, I think. I was at least APL/BSL but rarely had my hair down to know it/appreciate it. I was such a geek. No my mother didn't make me wear my hair like that in high school, but I had no other ideas.

 

[Geminigirl]

I wore either two cornrows or four afro puffs mostly. Never retained no length LOL and always looking a hot mess. That I can remember I never got teased about my hair til I relaxed. Ironically enough that's when people would tell me to comb my hair.

I was in like 6th grade with natural hair rocking my minnie mouse do while everyone was starting to get relaxers OR already had relaxers. This was when the flat twist designs in the front were becoming real big. I used to do my hair like this every wk in 9th grade with my extra short cropped HAM do.

This thread is funny lol. Either way my mom sucked at hair and she still does lol.

 

[Daughter]

Thankfully though my mum wasn't brilliant with hair it always looked neat. The only thing I didn't like was her penchant for ribbons in my hair. My big sister always hooked me up with canerows.

 

[Vintageglam]

I feel your pain girl...

This happened to me too. The other kids would point laugh and pretend to receive radio signals from my antlers (threaded hair). But on a serious note that **** made my hair grow serious - the ultimate protective style !

My mum would also grease up my scalp with Morgans Pomade - that stuff stunk and melted and dripped - Urgh. I see it in the BSS shop today and break out in a sweat and just run !:burning:

If that weren't enough coupled with the hand me down flares I was a real sorry *** case. Damn the playground was hard. And I grew up in Hackney (London). That was tough !

SMH YES.
I'm Nigerian, and my mom loved threading my hair. She would make lots of little sections, wrap black shiny thread around them, and then just leave them to stick out all free and wild. Couldn't even pull them into a ponytail for me...she said it would ruin the style.
AND, the Sulfur 8...she would apply that very liberally to my scalp about once every four days or so. And then send me off to school like that. :covereyes

Them evil devil chirrun gave me no. rest.
They used to call me Medusa too, girl. Told me that my hair looked like worms and snakes living in some dirt. Called me Octo-head. And when that Sulfur 8 smell was present, it would whip them into a frenzy. They said that my hair smelled like an old person. One child referred to it as the smell of "Santa's bootyhole".
But on picture day and my birthday, when my hair was pressed and my mom let me wear it out, they were silent. Because all that low-manipulation and sulfur was doing me some good.

ETA: It looked like this:

Just with smaller sections, and not in that loopy shape. Mine just stuck straight up and out.

 

[Vintageglam]

Btw Chaos Butterfly I was crying reading this bc I so can relate... LMAO and ROFL right now.........

Damn though but that made us the tough women we are today. Insults just bounce of me these days from grown women. They have **** on me when it comes to real insults - children got that skill wrapped up -trust me !

I am going to dig out my picture to give you ladies a real treat !!!

SMH YES.
I'm Nigerian, and my mom loved threading my hair. She would make lots of little sections, wrap black shiny thread around them, and then just leave them to stick out all free and wild. Couldn't even pull them into a ponytail for me...she said it would ruin the style.
AND, the Sulfur 8...she would apply that very liberally to my scalp about once every four days or so. And then send me off to school like that. :covereyes

Them evil devil chirrun gave me no. rest.
They used to call me Medusa too, girl. Told me that my hair looked like worms and snakes living in some dirt. Called me Octo-head. And when that Sulfur 8 smell was present, it would whip them into a frenzy. They said that my hair smelled like an old person. One child referred to it as the smell of "Santa's bootyhole".
But on picture day and my birthday, when my hair was pressed and my mom let me wear it out, they were silent. Because all that low-manipulation and sulfur was doing me some good.

ETA: It looked like this:

Just with smaller sections, and not in that loopy shape. Mine just stuck straight up and out.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

I feel your pain girl...

This happened to me too. The other kids would point laugh and pretend to receive radio signals from my antlers (threaded hair). But on a serious note that **** made my hair grow serious - the ultimate protective style !

My mum would also grease up my scalp with Morgans Pomade - that stuff stunk and melted and dripped - Urgh. I see it in the BSS shop today and break out in a sweat and just run !:burning:

If that weren't enough coupled with the hand me down flares I was a real sorry *** case. Damn the playground was hard. And I grew up in Hackney (London). That was tough !

Yes, ma'am it surely did. That was the only good thing about that darn hairstyle.

And girlll...I fell out at "Damn the playground was hard".
It really was!! Like, at least in the classroom, you were semi-safe with the teacher and the aide there. But on the playground...that ish was the jungle for real, NO RULES.

Btw Chaos Butterfly I was crying reading this bc I so can relate... LMAO and ROFL right now.........

Damn though but that made us the tough women we are today. Insults just bounce of me these days from grown women. They have **** on me when it comes to real insults - children got that skill wrapped up -trust me !

I am going to dig out my picture to give you ladies a real treat !!!

Also true!
I was bullied and teased up until high-school, and the older I got, the more I was like.... Adults ain't got ish on Shaquita 'nem from first grade. And sometimes, I would just look at them kids and give them the screwface. Like ya'll can't read or write your own names, but you have the mental dexterity to come up with Santa's bootyhole?

 

[MrsHdrLe]

My mom couldn't and still doesn't know anything about hair. SOOOOOO, she did a little jig all the way to the salon to get me a....a....a( I can barely mention it to this day)....a jerhi curl. (YES, she STILL rocks one to this day!)
When I was about 9, I went around the house and cut up or tore up all my annual school pictures (I even cut me out of the group pics). OHHH she warmed my butt for that one, but I didn't care. I was too through!

I remember the most embarassing thing was when the yt girls used to ask why my hair was wet all the time. Once I was playing tag with the class and I ran in to Shaney F. and her hands touched my hair, she "grossed out" right there and there was nothing I could do but touch my own hair and act all surprised!

 

[bellebebe]

I didn't complain when I was little. My mom did a good job. I loved it when she would cornrow my hair up in a ponytail. It looked really cute. and When she would do a normal ponytail, she would twist my bangs to the side.

 

[MrsHdrLe]

Yes, ma'am it surely did. That was the only good thing about that darn hairstyle.

And girlll...I fell out at "Damn the playground was hard".
It really was!! Like, at least in the classroom, you were semi-safe with the teacher and the aide there. But on the playground...that ish was the jungle for real, NO RULES.




Also true!
I was bullied and teased up until high-school, and the older I got, the more I was like.... Adults ain't got ish on Shaquita 'nem from first grade. And sometimes, I would just look at them kids and give them the screwface. Like ya'll can't read or write your own names, but you have the mental dexterity to come up with Santa's bootyhole?

That one there brought tears to my eyes