Yesterday I decided that I wanted to wear my hair big. I had brushed out my curls from earlier this week and put big plaits in my hair. I took them out and decided against putting my hair in a ponytail or bun.
I actually fluffed it out a little more because I really just wanted huge hair. So by the afternoon my hair was huge and I'm with the kids and the first thing they shouted at me was WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR? Nothing, I responded. One of the boys snickered and said that I looked like Medusa and I told him, well that's Miss Medusa to you. They thought it was pretty funny and honestly I wasn't offended by the comments. In fact, we had a running joke all day about how I looked like Medusa and if that they didn't listen to me they would turn into stone because I'd give them a dirty look lol. Some of the girls came up to me almost in mourning about why-I-did-I-wear-my-hair-so-poofy-when-I-had-such-nice-hair. I responded in the same way I always do.
My co-workers (well the ones I talk to) were supportive and some of them tried to defend me against the comments from the kids. They really liked my hair and one of them even remarked how much they hated that I could pull off big fluffy hair because whenever they tried it never worked out (another was trying to chase me down because he wanted to touch my hair so bad) I was actually smiling all day because I felt happy with my big hair. I wish I had time to take another picture of my hair at the end of the day so folks could see how huge it was.
As a side note: have a thick skin when working with kids. They don't know any better lol.
I noticed a lot of kids are less and less exposed to natural hair. White privileged children moreso, as well. Having a thick skin is a must.
ReplyDeleteP.s: Hair looks awesome!
Yeah, I work in Harlem NY, and being natural surprisingly isnt common unless its in braids or locks.
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