My son, Simeon, has been growing his hair on and off since he was about 10 years old. 

From Mohawks to full blown afros…he loves the idea of not doing much with his hair. Sometimes it has been a challenge getting him to agree to a shape up. It hasn’t been a priority for him so we (his parents) haven’t pushed him.

Several months ago, I began asking Simeon if he ever thought of getting his hair braided. He has seen his favorite athletes change their hairstyles often, but I don’t think he ever considered it for himself. After all, who needs their hair done when they are gaming and talking on Discord most of the time.

One evening, I began showing him various styles. He saw a few that he liked but was adamant about thinking through the decision for himself. He said (a month or so later), I am still thinking about having my hair braided…it’s a 50/50 chance right now. I acknowledged him, and went on about my business. As Fall approached, he wanted to have more conversations about it and finally decided that he was open to having it done!

On one hand, I was excited about him processing the decision on his own and making a choice that was best for him. On the other hand, I was ecstatic about him trying something new and possibly opening a new door of self-confidence and pride in his appearance.

One thing to know about Simeon, if you say that something is going to happen he expects a schedule of events and confirms it all the way up to the date. He has been like that since he started school as a kindergartner. “Who’s picking me up today, Mom? Is Nanna picking me up or Gram?” He always wants to know what’s happening next.

Now that he had made his decision, it was GO TIME! LOL….kinda. I still needed to figure out if I wanted to hire someone to do it or do it myself. Yes, this girl has skills 😊.

I spoke to a few people about it and one of the comments stuck with me. 

She said, “You have to ask yourself, do I have the emotional energy needed to do it?”

I knew what she meant. Doing hair is a labor of love…yet labor none the less. I had spent years giving thanks to the hair gods that I didn’t have a girl because I would need to do her hair often! I often joked with my sister about having enough girls for both of us. But this time, I was up to the challenge.

I thought to myself, when’s the last time we spent hours together…in close proximity…conversing, laughing, and enjoying each others presence? 

Devices are too often our go-to vice and we spend way too much time looking at a screen rather than sitting face to face with the people we love.

So we began the process on Thanksgiving eve and finished a few hours before would link up with family.

Simeon graciously endured journey (rites of passage) of:

1. Shampooing

2. Conditioning

3. Detangling

4. Sectioning

5. Blowdrying

6. Sectioning Again

7. Applying Edge Control

8. Making Parts (As straight as possible)

9. Braiding

10. Gawking over how well I was doing

11. Repeat steps 6-12