Nappy hair and crazy suggestions.

So a couple of months ago, I decided to chop all my hair off! Yikes. I know. The thing is, I decided that I wanted to grow my hair back naturally without chemical alteration. Too few black women embrace what people call our nappy stubborn hair. But I believe that it can be managed and can be beautiful without being chemically altered and I wanted to give it a try.

Well the result of that experiment is the cute little afro that I have been rocking lately. Takes a lot of confidence to pull that one off I tell you. Every now and then when I can find the time, I braid it myself though (a very time consuming and tiring process with hair like mine). But I am proud of myself and I know it will be a while before I can put this hair in a ponytail. So for now I am chugging along and hoping that the hair is willing to come on this challenging and exciting journey with me.

Anyway, I was in the checkout line at the store yesterday with the rest of my little family. Safiya is always very restless by the time that we get to the checkout line, but she was not too terrible today. So, I was talking to Musa my husband and our accents make it quite obvious that we are foreigners in this crazy country. Well the woman behind me who was also black asks, "Are you African?" to which I replied, "yes". The next question to come out or her mouth is, "Why don't you put a perm in your daughter's hair? She would look so much prettier", like it has something to do with the fact that I am African. I wish I had the courage to say, "Lady, you have got to be out of your d*mn mind! Who is the irresponsible individual who puts a perm in a baby's hair? And my baby girl is very beautiful just the way she is, thank you very much!" But I am not that brave so I just said, "No I am not going to put a perm in her hair." And that was the end of the discussion.
Can't the woman see that even I do not have a perm relaxer in my hair? I was appalled that she would suggest that I put a chemical relaxer in my 1 1/2 year old daughter's hair when I am still washing it with Johnson's baby shampoo! I admit it is not easy to get this little one to sit still so I can do her hair and her thick curly hair has already broken two combs of mine! Still, I will not be crazy enough to put a perm in a little child's hair.
Goodness gracious! The kind of people I meet in this crazy city.

It would be nice if Mrs. Crazy from the checkout line comes across this blog so she can see what answer I really wanted to give her. Rubbish!