Raising a daughter with curly hair can be challenging - a lot of the time.

Parenting is difficult on the best of day, and you add just a bit more complex when you have a daughter with curly hair.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that my daughter has curly hair. She's just turned 8 years old, and one day she will appreciate the fact that she does. The challenge is to get her love her curly hair now and always.

The challenge

So why is curly hair so challenging, well as a start, brushing hair is always an event. It does not matter what time of the day or where. A helpful tip, do not attempt to use a comb or normal bristled hair brush, this will only lead to tears and a reticence to brush hair, we use a brush called Tangle Teezer.
A few weeks back I watched a viral video where a dad was using a vacuum cleaner to tidy up a little girls hair and tie a pom-pom onto her long and straight hair. This would never work for someone with curly hair and made me chuckle out loud.

School day lice inspection, I always know when the school's had a lice inspection as whoever did the inspection, clearly does not know how to tie up our daughter's hair again. She'll go to school with her hair braided, as she does most days, and if there has been a lice inspection, she would come home with her braids undone, and her hair beautifully voluminous, volume that would cause envy to be experieneced by straight haired ladies.

Grooming curly hair takes time, but it's worth it.

We have a routine at our home, every Sunday is hair washing day, either Michele (my wife), or I will wash our daughter's hair. Based on our years of experience, we now know that its best done under running water, and having the right brush and detangler is a must. It takes time with is great, as it gives us an opportunity to bond and have more focused chats. We use this time to let our daughter know how amazing her hair is, that she is loved, and that she is blessed to have her hair type i.e. she can wear it curly, or straight, she can wear it in so many different styles.

We know this is extremely important as there is a stigma attached to girls with curly hair. Most young girls want to have sleek straight hair, as it's been personified as beautiful in the media for decades.
This is something that we need to change as parents of curly-haired children and boost their self-esteem for when it inevitably gets tested by peers or even adults. We need to let our kids know that there is nothing wrong with their curly or straight hair and that all that really matters is compassion, respect, friendship and love for one another.

Role models

We try and build our daughters self-esteem and confidence daily by exposing here to role models that have curly hair. Whether these are animated characters, strong women making a difference in the world or just pointing out how cool and beautiful curly hair looks when we see another curly haired beauty.

Michele, Amber's mom, has been blessed with soft curly hair that she can wear curly or straight, Michele wears her hair curly permanently now to reinforce the message that we are giving to our daughter.

For us, this is what we've learned being a parents of a curly-haired princess, and what we are doing to the to instill courage, compassion, and confidence in our daughter. Let us know your journey and what works for you.

The Parent Diary team.

Michele and Ricardo