Learning to Love What You’ve Got: Lessons From Our Kids

By Sarah Matheny on June 10th, 2009

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I’ve had naturally curly hair my whole life that I have battled to keep straight with reverse perms, hot rollers, flat irons and a continuous cycle of proliferate cursing and repenting prayer. However, no matter how hard I try my hair is always less Nicole Kidman/Taylor Swift and more Phil Spector/Russell Brand.

So when my oldest daughter was born with a head full of dark, unruly curls, I knew the day would come when she too would start the battle to tame her mane. I pictured her like me, hesitating to walk outside when the humidity was above 2%, to avoid setting off a reaction not unlike adding vinegar to baking soda.  I thought she would resent me passing on the cursed curls.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

When my daughter sees a group of girls, either on TV or at the park, she doesn’t wistfully look at the glossy, straight-haired blonds and say, “I wish I were her!” She DOES look for someone with hair like her and upon finding her, she always excitedly shouts, “Hey, she has brown, curly hair JUST LIKE ME!!!!”

I knew finding someone to identify with was powerful for her, but I had no idea how much so, until the day when I cast my flat iron aside, threw in some product and went au natural.

“Hey, Mama!,” my daughter shrieked, “You have brown, curly hair…JUST LIKE ME! You are BEAUTIFUL!”

So are you, Gracie, so are you.