Free To Just Be

Ever since we found out we were going to be parents H and I knew that we would without a doubt let our kids feel free to be themselves. Their quirks and personalities, likes and dislikes were free to gad about and we would not try to stifle them. Lefties are welcome just like kids with blue hair and opposing political views.

Then the other day I realized we actually haven't been doing that. TD has some wildly untamable hair and everyday we run the gamut of detangler, soaking every layer and then combing it out. "Combing out the weave" is what H calls it. It's definitely a process and one that goes completely AWOL about ten minutes later. Inevitably I end up combing her whole head about three more times in a day. If I don't do this it looks like a pack of rabid squirrels ran through it while trying to find a place to nest. Seriously. I would not be surprised if one day I saw a pair of beady little eyes glaring out at me from that blond halo of hair.

Why were we trying to suppress and tame TD's hair so much? The insane factor of it is the topic of conversation from our friends, family and neighbors each time she sets foot outside our home. "It's hilarious!" they say. "What are we going to do with it?" ask members of our family as if it a detriment to national security or something. Finally I decided to say "F it!" It's her hair. That is the way she is and trying to comb it down only shows her we are trying to change who she is and that's not what we want her to learn from us.

Am I reading too much into it? Maybe. But think back to how many of us have tried to change ourselves to conform to what society deems acceptable. Are we ever as happy as we think we should be when we do conform? The answer is usually no.

BEFORE

From now on TD is free to be and quite frankly I think it's pretty damn cute this way as well.

AFTER


Let's all give a nice round of congratulations to my friend Kristen over at Mommy Needs a Cocktail. She's just birthed a fine baby boy. I can't wait to meet the newest member of that clan.

And if you are feeling an itch to join in on a cause that is near and dear to my heart read this Deep South Moms post and join in to boycott Nickelodeon and Viacom for not booting Chris Brown from the Kid's Choice Awards show. Sure, let's just start giving awards to abusers and in front of children... Maybe, just maybe we could teach kids about the topic of abuse instead of awarding bad behavior.