Thursday, August 21, 2008

BIG decisions/little decisions

OK, so we are still TOTALLY praying about our big decision (see previous post), but let me tell you about a little decision we made.

We decided it would be fun and cute to have dread locks put into Jambo's hair. Hey, I am a busy mom, and dreads look so maintenance free and kinda fun. So, after growing his hair out for 4 months, Tuesday was the day. He sat for over an hour, as they twisted and gelled, and with relatively little crankiness. Then, $44 later, the stylist let me know we would have to bring him in to retwist about every 2 weeks, at about $30-40 dollars a pop. Um, I don't spend that much on ANYONE in our family. So, we leave the salon and his head looks like it has little rabbit turds all over it. I am thinking it will look much better later, once we get home and it is really dry. I went to work that evening and shared with an African American friend my experience, and she then informed me that dreads are actually very expensive and time consuming to maintain well (what???). And she said it all without even mentioning what an ignorant person I can be sometimes. Well, at least it was going to look cute for a couple of weeks. And me, being known to stretch as much as possible, figured I could stretch him needing to get retwisted for at least a month. So, once it surely got cute, we could enjoy the things for a bit. Um, not so much. The rabbit turds remained and Farmboy and I both agreed this was just a little lesson we learned. I was told we would have to cut the dreads out once we were sick of them (in this case, almost immediately), so was all prepared for that in a few weeks. So this morning, I gave the twins a bath, poured water on his hair, and -- POOF -- the dreads were gone. TWO DAYS. That is how long he had the "do". Ridiculous. I didn't even get a good picture before they were gone! I just shaved his head down to a number 2 on our clippers and he looks marvelous, with no more rabbit turds.

Lesson learned. But, hey, I did get my eyebrows waxed during his "dreading" and the woman did a fabulous job.

19 comments:

Rebecca said...

I'm so sad there's not a picture of the 'rabbit turds' :)

Laurzie said...

Bummer that you didn't get a picture! What a rip off! I've heard that dreds are a pain to manage, but I had no idea they're expensive, too. Crazy.

Wolfemom said...

Glad we can learn from each other. That's so expensive.. it's crazy. I was just in Grand Rapids visiting my friend. How far are you from there?

Jim and Debbie said...

I was so hoping to see a picture! Kuri still talks about her friends Jambo and Kume.
Wishing you all the best and for God's perfect will for their little sister.

mama becca said...

Yeah seriously!!! Not even a picture of the $44 rabbit turds... bummer :). You guys are seriously funny.

atHisrighthand said...

I am laughing so hard! I can't even tell you! Sorry, but funny! lol.. Boy did I need to laugh and maybe that is why I find so much humor in this..

love it!
Still praying for you.

kikstra said...

Oh no! I hope you didn't go to the lady that Jill and I recommended! I know of a blog of a family w/twins from Haiti who does the 'retwisting' themselves, but this is pretty time consuming. What a bummer.

Mary said...

I will learn from your experience. We keep it simple here with the number 1 clipper!

Lori S said...

Hair...I worry alot about that! Your post didn't help ease my fears! (o: It did make me laugh, though.
I suppose I'll mark the rabbit turd hairdo off my list of possibilities!

Jen said...

I am so glad you 'educated" us before we spent the money. Who knew?

Single PAP said...

you could have retwisted them yourselves with a little bit of educating. i have no idea how to do that but i know a family who loc'ed their boys hair and spend no money cause, like i said, they do it themselves (a white family)...so you can still do it if you change your mind.

anyway, just found your blog and your twins are just adorable.

Mindy said...

Your stories make me laugh so hard! Nate loves them too, and now knows you as the "booby" lady and will now add "rabbit turd" lady to his memory of you. :) I never thought about how much work they are, until I was reminded that friends of ours from church have to take care of their little boys' hair every single morning to help manage the locks. Kinda crazy to think of it as a high maintenance hair style. Glad you at least tried it! :)

Kimberly Baggett said...

okay! this post cracks me up for sure!!! this is so something that would happen to me!! you are awesome for trying this! what a great mom you are! the twins are just blossoming and precious as ever!

i don't have your email address but i wanted you to know that we are compiling photos of families with their children into a photo album for the gladney caregivers….i would love for you to email me a family picture of y’all with your little ones for the album at kimbo2710@aol.com ….we leave next week, so send it soon! the caregivers will love it i am sure!!! thanks!

Monica said...

HI-LARIOUS!!!!

Sparkz said...

I am prying for you and your big decision! I know its a hard decision but I am excited for you guys and the potential. Its neat that there is another sibling out there and great that you are at least aware of it. I just keep thinking about their mother and her sacrifice. It breaks my heart.

I love the story. I want to still want to see a picture of the rabbit turds! :)

Jennifer said...

i want to see the hair! i was so thinking we would grow abe's hair out and he could have some dreads as an older toddler...not so much, huh?

Tracy said...

OK, I'm still seriously sad about your previous post---my heart is so broken for the birth mothers of our children. Thank you for sharing about her.

The hair thing is becoming more and more of an issue for us!

Praying you'll know soon what to do about little sister!

Anonymous said...

Oh my! I wish I had checked in more often! I grew my dreads so long I could almost sit on them! I cut them recently to get back to practicing doing hair in anticipation of our adoption. Email me on my blog sometime and I'll be happy to send you some photos and tips. I LOVED my dreads and they were a lot of work on the front end to get them set, but once they were in they were barely any work. Wash and conditioning, but no styling needed. Plus, I groomed my own! If you ever decide to try again, let me know.

Shelly Roberts said...

Okay my friend! ... we're all ready for an update! :) Love, Shelly