School Hair

When Beth was in 6th grade (2000-2001), she had quite long hair. I had started doing braids of all sorts and so we began styling her hair each day. At first we were just picking styles from some of our hair books (here, here, here and here).

But as days passed, we thought we could do something different every day. Then we ran out of choices in the books--especially styles that could be created in a reasonable timeframe for a before-school morning. After all we had to fit music practice into the morning as well.

By the end of the year some of the styles got more outlandish, and some weren't much different than ones that had gone before. But we did finish the school year with Beth wearing a different hair style every day. I wish we would have taken some pictures. Thinking back, it is amazing that Beth put up with it. As a small child, she hated me combing her hair. She seemed to have a sensitive scalp and thought it all hurt. However, of all my children--until Sarah came along, she was the one who liked to take scissors to her own hair. Carol cut her dolls hair, but Beth and Sarah liked to chop their own.

When Beth started 7th grade, I still often did her hair, but we repeated styles. In fact, I was in the bathroom doing her hair on the morning of 11 Sep 2001, when Tom called and told us to turn on the TV. I don't remember if I ever finished her hair style that day.

But I digress. Over the years of little girl hair, I have improved my braiding skills. Sarah seems to be like Beth in that she has a sensitive scalp. Until recently, she didn't like me to spend too much time doing her hair. She has mostly just worn a ponytail. But one Sunday last year, we did put a braided "cage" in her hair. She was in 6th grade. Is there a pattern here?

This morning we decided to try a new type of braid. I found it on the internet here and here. It turned out quite nicely.
As an aside, a few days ago Sarah did my hair, too. I've always loved people combing and brushing my hair even if the result is something like below. Sarah certainly knows the art of back-combing.