What Kind of Natural World Are Our Kids Growing Up In?

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"She get it from her Mamma." --Juvenile

One of the things I admire most about being natural is the very real possibility that young children today will grow up with a very different perception of their natural hair. For many of us, our natural kinks, coils, waves and curls were straightened into submission. They were situations that had to be "dealt" with, using either a blowdryer and a pressing comb/flat iron or a box of relaxer -- and we got that message early and often.

For so long, "Just For Me" kiddie perms ruled many black girls' lives -- and their perception of their hair.
If it didn't bounce or look like that little girls' hair on the box, it wasn't "good" enough. For the record, let me say that if you choose to put a perm in your child's hair, that's your business as a parent. I have a personal opinion about relaxers in young girls' hair (from a medical perspective, I believe that little girls shouldn't have perms before they reach puberty), but NO JUDGING HERE.




What Does Your Little Girl See?

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However, I do think that your child, especially a young, impressionable one (say nine years old or less) sees Momma wearing natural hair, her perception of HER natural hair may be very different. Is this always the case?

Of course not. Ask any parent and they'll tell you that kids sometimes have different perceptions -- no matter how hard you try or what you've taught them. Natural hair is no different. You may have the fiercest, bangingest twist out every day. You may be a card carrying member of the natural hair club. And your child may not want a natural hair on her little head. It works that way sometimes.

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Different Rules?
Yet, I think the natural hair winds are blowing on our youngest ones. I've seen lots of huge fros, twistouts, braidouts, puffs and lovely loose styles on little girls. And I think it's absolutely wonderful. Usually, little girls' hairstyle were relegated to ponytails.

I know that's what I did to my girls' hair when they were younger. What Black girls didn't have a bunch of ponytails and barrettes as a young child? You didn't dare wear your hair loose, --except maybe on picture day or Easter Sunday -- because playing and loose hair did NOT mix.

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How Our Hair Was Managed

And I totally get it: Loose hair, even for adults, means tangles. And for the most part as kids, our hair was contained in braids and ponytails. Managing our hair was a task, mainly because we didn't know much about good hair practices -- low manipulation, conditioner combing, combing from the ends up, sealing our hair, etc.

Back then, hairstyles like ponytails and braids and hot oil treatments were common; our moms just didn't call them that. Though, I've seen and heard reports of young elementary school girls in weaves and wigs (that's another blog post, lol). Today's moms are more equipped to handle natural hair than perhaps at any other time in recent history.

Why Things Are Different Now
There will always be mothers who will get relaxers for their young daughters -- and I'm not knocking that.  But today there are also an awful lot of moms -- like me -- who say "no" to the creamy crack for their daughters, or choose to wait until they are old enough to maintain their own hair to make chemical decisions.

Many times, hair practices start before kids are born. I can't count the number of posts from soon-to-be moms who finally went natural because they worry about the messages that their young, impressionable or yet-to-be born daughters will get when Momma has relaxed hair. Maybe the younger generation won't have as many hangups about their natural hair as we do? That's the hope, at least.

I'm glad that little girls are embracing their natural hair at a young age. I don't usually go around quoting Juvenile. But, in this instance, yes, our children are getting it from their Mammas! And that's a good thing.

Do you think little girls are wearing their hair differently now than when we were children? Do you think more children are embracing their natural hair because of their parents?

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Note about images: I do not own any of these images. They were collected from a variety of sources online. I added a source link to where I found them.