Dad Takes On Biggest Challenge of Raising a Girl

on June 23, 2011 at 4:41 PM

little girl with braids As a man with a daughter, I'm constantly bombarded with things that I'd always hoped I'd never have to get to know on an academic level. For instance, my daughter is wearing panties now. Those used to be fun. Now they're educational.

And I won't even get started on the fear that I have of training bras and cup sizes. Nope, I'll just stick to my red Solo cups.

Well, before I even get that far in life, I've been introduced to the wonderful world of doing a girl's hair. Yay me. My daughter's hair is a mix of my ultra-wavy, curly locks and her mother's thick and silky hair. I guess that would make her hair wavy, curly, silky, and thick. Basically, my daughter's hair is a parfait. And no, that doesn't make any sense.

I knew the day would come when I'd have to give up my tried and true method of wet, brush, and clip. At some point you have to style a little girl's hair. Besides, I will not have my daughter looking like the girl whose dad does her hair. No sirree, Bob. My goal is to make sure that her hair ALWAYS looks like her mother did it.

But braiding? That was asking a lot until one of my friends, a grown male, braided my daughter's hair in front of me, effectively slapping around my pride in the process. I was livid and returned home and spent hours on YouTube learning how to braid with some imaginary coiled coiffage. When she awoke that next morning, it was gangbusters. I was a braiding fool.

Twist here, swoop there, bring it back one more time. I was Kanye West in 2007, you couldn't tell me nothing. My first braid probably looked more like the opposite of a braid, but I got better. My daughter even ASKS me to braid her hair now. Which, as you can imagine, is the total Charlie Sheen version of winning.

Daddy today? He's a braiding fool. I take every chance I can to try new little designs. Plus, when you add my braid game to my barrette matching game, you've got a total Papa Fashionista when it comes to the curly locks.

Now, if I can JUST avoid the ENTIRE training bra years, I'll be set.

Image via Steve Smith/Flickr

About the author Panama Jackson

writes about great things at a fever pitch. Sometimes, he doesn't even know how he does it. Love him for he loves greatness.

Filed Under: girls, grooming

Comments (26)

angevil53

on Jun 23, 2011 at 4:59 PM

great post! full of enthusiasm, and i can assure you all mother's wish they could avoid those training bra years too!

Report this comment

YoungHold

I think you're an awesome dad for learning how to braid and not just saying "Go ask mommy".

Wishing you the best of the luck during the training bra years. But you've got time to psych yourself up for it.

luckygirlyo

on Jun 23, 2011 at 5:02 PM

I don't think you need to worry. If you are that aware of hair-you're golden. Ps- my parents were together and my dad handled the boys talk and the condom talk. A little painful for both-but effective.

KBW2

on Jun 23, 2011 at 5:03 PM

Well done! I remember taking my brush and ribbons to the hospital when my mom delivered my baby brother-- dad couldn't do it!
It's something that will always be appreciated by your daughter and nothings better than her being cared for. Not just needs met, but cared for.

Rumsita

on Jun 23, 2011 at 5:14 PM

Sometimes dads are better at hair than moms. My dad was far more patient than my mother was when I was a kid, so with him I got gentle combing through tangles, starting at the bottom of the hair, whereas my mom tried to erradicate tangles by starting at the scalp & tugging the comb through my hair in one pass.

Good for you on redirecting your pride toward doing something well that you previously thought was not cool! Believe me, it makes you super cool in your daughter's eyes, and hers is the only opinion that ought to matter.

SCmomof3girls

on Jun 23, 2011 at 5:17 PM

Haha! I do believe the training bra "talk" was the most ackward talk ever between my dad and I (who was divorced from my mom and split up from my stepmom at the time). The conversation lasted about 15 seconds maybe, but I still feel for him over that moment. You are a great dad for learning that for your daughter :) I am not sure my husband can even put in a ponytail holder.

ashjo85

on Jun 23, 2011 at 6:09 PM

Lol, good for you!! My husband gets my daughter dressed in the mornings, and she's taken care of all day by my dad, and it's SO obvious she's been with guys lal day. When I see her that night, there is little to no chance that her clothes even match, and her hair is a mess of tangled curles.

ashjoy

on Jun 23, 2011 at 7:06 PM

Great post! I remember asking my dad to braid my hair when I was little, and he froze! He had no idea what he was doing. I tried to show him with my my little pony, haha. He called my mom (who was at work) to ask her what to do, and he attempted a ponytail. All we had were the rubber bands with the little plastic balls on them (which are pretty impossible to master). Needless to say I wore my hair down that day, but I still remember loving so much that he tried SO hard to get it right! I'm 28 and still a daddy's girl! :)

butterflymkm

on Jun 23, 2011 at 7:11 PM

My fiancé used to be a baker so he can braid really well (from braiding the bread loaves lol) our DD is only 2 though so her hair is still 2 short to do anything with.

Facebook comment from Tracie Finite

on Jun 23, 2011 at 7:14 PM

LOVE your post! My husband takes care of our daughter the first half of the day, so he's solely responsible for her long hair (she's 4). Most days he just leaves it down...even though we're growing her bangs out and they drive her CRAZY he still doesn't put it up at least in a headband, so she's jerking her head to the side constantly to get it out of her face...but I digress. Then come the days when he just seems to go all out with the ponytails, barettes, ribbons, etc. Those days she just looks so adorable and seems really happy. I know that she will look back on these times years later and be grateful for having a cool dad who isn't afraid to give her some fun locks.

There is a great blog that I follow that you might find helpful, inspirational, etc.: http://www.princesshairstyles.com/

She kind of puts most of us to shame with her elaborate designs BUT she has video tutorials that really do make most of the hairstyles look fairly doable. We'll be trying some of these when our munchkins bangs are long enough.

Good luck with your little girl. Sounds like you're doing a great job so far!