Foster Friday: Aladdin Knows Hair

I'm a white girl. I have red hair. It is fine, straight and "regular" as my hair stylist told me at my last haircut. My experience is a little lacking when it comes to African American hair. Actually that is being quite generous. Truthfully, I have no clue about how to care for or style African American hair.

Well, that was until last night.

We attended a class on African American hair. Yes, they train foster parents on basic hygiene. But obviously, it is pretty important since people like me clearly need some guidance. And let me tell you, it is a whole new world. Yes, just like in Aladdin.

First of all, it was clear that it was a new world when they told us that we should only wash the child's hair once a week. Or maybe even two weeks. *insert look of shock*  If I skip a day washing my hair, it is an oily mess. Which I guess is kind of the point. White people try to avoid oil, while African American hair actually needs it. And I was shocked to learn that I can use certain oils out of my kitchen, like coconut oil or even olive oil.   

A dazzling place I never knew.

They even covered proper position you should sit in when doing hair. Here is the picture they showed us.

I was pretty impressed they included something as basic as this. When they showed this picture I thought, I've seen people in movies doing hair like this. But to be honest, I'm not sure I would have put two and two together if I needed to detangling hair for over an hour. I was shocked at that time estimate too! This is quite the time commitment. And apparently there are other perks to this position. Even when a little boy gets a "regular" at the barber shop, you will still need to comb his hair. When you sit like this, you are better able to identify the direction to comb the child's hair in.   

But when I'm way up here it's crystal clear.

The presentation emphasized that there were two areas that should be our primary focus. First, we need to make sure to keep the hair clean and healthy. Second, we needed to build the child's self esteem by helping them have a positive view of their hair. While style is important, it became much less intimidating to know that I could achieve these two things. Since no one wants their child looking a hot mess, they covered some basic styles. To my surprise, I definitely will give them a try when we have a child. I'm not saying they will look great, but I will give it a go.

That now I'm in a whole new world with you.