ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR KIDS TO LOVE THEIR NATURAL HAIR?

I am a strong believer that you should always teach your kids the fundamentals of self-love and love their hair.  If you can teach your kids to love the way that they are made and to embrace every single inch of what and who they are, you have already set the foundation for them to love themselves.  When it comes to your natural hair, you need to teach them from a young age how to care for, manage and love their hair no matter what their hair's texture is, no matter how short or long their hair is or what teachers, friends or others may say about your hair, you need to tell them to love what God has given them.

If you do not tell them then someone else who doesn't understand natural hair will feed their minds with negativity and in turn will teach your kids to dislike their hair.   Feed their minds with self-love, teach them to love others even if they dislike you, or do you wrong, tell them to speak positive words to themselves every day, I am strong, I am Important I am beautiful! The more they tell themselves that, the more confident they will become, you see no matter what others may say and think about you, you have to remember they know nothing about you. If they really know you as a person, what others may say about you will be made redundant, will be dismissed.

I teach my two girls why we have different hair textures to other people, and why we need to make sure that we are looking after our hair a lot more than others would.  I tell them that our hair is unique to us, our makeup is different to others and it is important to never compare your hair or yourself to anyone else.

When they start to realise that they are made different and unique they will start to accept who they are without anybody else telling them what they think they should be.  My kids have learnt a lot from what  I do in order to maintain my hair on a weekly basis, they ask questions and I ensure I provide them with detailed answers so they are fully aware of why? What? and Who?  They can't say they have never been told.  They both know that their hair is a lot different and reacts differently to certain products I use in their hair and they are aware of what tools to use in their hair, what products to use according to their hair's porosity or needs, well my eldest daughter at that, and they understand that moisture and protein balance is very important for a healthy hair journey.

Teach them to eat healthily and to do gentle exercise for the benefit of having a healthy lifestyle and healthy hair too.  When I work out, my girls do the same except it is too funny when they do it but at least they have learnt the importance of doing it!

I have produced a natural hair care regimen for my two and it is followed, well, most of the time, so I have to step in and tell them to make sure they are doing certain things to preserve the health of their hair, you know how kids are, they chose to do the less important things first and leave the important things to last but that will change quickly trust me.

Feed their minds with books about natural hair, there are so many books out in the market that teaches kids to love their natural hair, my younger daughter has some and she loves them, I guess my two girls both love their books which is great for me.  I tell my kids that having natural hair means that creating styles in our hair is endless, yes you can create so many fabulous hairstyles that will have all eyes on you, I mean what more can you ask for, we just need to learn how to work with what we have, it isn't that hard unless you make it that way.

My little girl loves playing with dolls and combing their hair, however, I am yet to source one with natural hair that she can relate to.  I believe that if she has one with hair similar to her hair she would be very fascinated with it and use her doll as a model for her to manage hair, I mean it's the first step at least.

My goal in life is to be the best role model for my two girls, I have created an open conversation for my girls to come to me to talk about practically anything and everything, and this relationship right there is very important for me and my kids, it is working well and I hope that this does not fade over time, I would hate not to have that, and if they need some form of information, they are having to get it from the wrong source.  I want what I do to maintain hair and to have a healthy lifestyle, work hard to build a firm foundation for them to have the greatest impact on their lives when they grow up. I want my works to be a strong message that if you want something to work,  you will need to work hard for it if you want long healthy hair, you will need to make time to manage and maintain your hair.

I have learnt to love myself and my hair, I speak positively about my hair and my overall beauty and I walk with sheer confidence, I hope that my kids see this and learn to adopt the same principles.

What do you do to encourage your kids to love themselves and their hair? Do you have an open relationship with your kids?