this will be kinda long and rambly, I'm sure, but I gotta share with you all some things I've been pondering. As I was trying to backcomb some more of my child's hair last night, I got to thinking about the things I've read here in this forum, and the photos you all have shared of your incredible heads of hair! And I was thinking how much dreadlocks really are art. They are an expression of ourselves (well yourselves, my hair is not dready, but is streaked purple and pinkish where the purple has faded out) and each is as individual as each of you are. My child, with her head of beautiful red hair, and her name that she shares with half of the female population in North America (but she is named for my very best friend in the world and I wouldn't change that for anything), wanting dreadlocks since she was three. And now she has red heart-shaped beads in her dreads "for valentines" she said (I really gotta snap a new photo!). Where she got the idea that she wanted dreadlocks, I really don't know. But later when she saw some people in real life with them, and then the singer from Counting Crows, I think it was, the idea was cemented in her mind and she would not be deterred from it, even after I explained to her how long she'd have to sit and let me backcomb her hair... So I'm combing knots in her hair, and I must say, I've gotten really good at it by now, been doing it since xmas night (still have about six or seven that have not been backcombed at all), and I keep thinking how much I enjoy the process and how cool it is what happens when you do this or that and how to get the ends to look halfway right, and how it doesn't really matter because her hair is going to do its own thing anyway given enough time... and I thought about how some of you are down on people who don't do the natural thing, but I was also thinking how that's just because of who you are and how your natural dreads are expressing your individuality in their own unique way, and how cool that really is. But, given the hours I have spent knotting up Jenny's hair is no small feat in itself, and it's very much a work of art that expresses her individuality in an amazing sort of way. I can see how perfect salon-made dreads aren't your thing, but they might be someone else's and that just is their way of expressing themselves in their sort of way. And I got to thinking about the parents thread, and how that must really suck for some of you to have parents not willing to let you express yourselves with your hair, and how they must want you to be like everyone else in this boring freakin world. And I remember being 15 or 16 and getting my first mohawk, and how my stepdad was ready to just shave it all off or maybe yank it out of my head, and how my mom just shook her head and said "it's just hair, it will grow back"... I can relate, is what I'm trying to say. I was also thinking how the process of making dreadlocks is just like felting wool, and how maybe you could do some really cool things (like put faces in them) with more mature dreads if you used a felting needle... but that's way off topic and maybe something for another thread some other night. Anyway, I wanted to share with you all my ponderings on this, and try to express how impressed I am with you for not being afraid to do what you want with your hair, and how much I can relate to being young and doing something like that. And I wanted to thank you all for welcoming me into this happy forum and letting me be a tiny part of such an incredible experience this dreadlock thing has become for me.
I totally understand this. I want my children to be able to be free and grow and do what they want. I don't want to hinder their minds, or their creativity. Having 5 children and learning and helping them grow and watching their each individual personality develop is beautiful!! Jenny is a lucky child to have a mother like you!! Jenny's hair looks amazing and so cute!! The beads are adorable.
lemme ask a question........did ur child want dreads??? cuz from what i hear dreads can be extremely painful EDit......i just read she did.....hahah more power to ya still she seems a lil young to be expressing such desires
she was talking in complete sentences before she could walk. Nothing suprises me anymore. She wants to be a pilot, always has, and I have no doubt she will be someday. It would suprise me more if she were to try to be like everyone else, follow the crowd. She just isn't that sort of person at all. I see no reason to do anything but encourage her to continue to be such an incredible, unique little person!
this is really awesome to hear about/see! i love when a parent(s) encourage freedom of choice with their children. i see dreads as works of art, too - but art made by nature. and what´s great is that no two people´s dreads are alike. they can be kinda similar, but never the same. have you ever seen the book "Dreads" ? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157965150X/102-1184092-5485763?v=glance&n=283155 it´s a great coffetable-sized book of black and white photographs of people with a page of a quote of theirs on the opposite page. plus, it has the history of dreads in the beginning. it has pictures of sadhus, rastas, business people, students, artists, etc. i love it - it never gets old.
That child is beautiful Don't let her colour her hair! Natural readheads are hard to find and she should be proud of her red hair. (We always want what we don't have and don't appreciate what we do, I know). I haven't seen many kids w/dreads (none in real life, only online). Post a pic. She seems to be very independent!
she does want "yellow hair" When she's older, that is her decision to make, not mine. But she is very sensitive to chemicals, can't even use baby shampoo on her head, I doubt she will wish for the burns a bleach job would give her scalp.
That is one of my all time favorite coffee-table type books EVER! I bought it almost two years ago, and just fell in love with the beautiful photography and personal stories people shared of having dreadlocks. I'm always hoping that they'll put out a "sequel" to it.... lol.
I also think that dreads are a piece of art.. art of nature! but nothing wrong with making it your own art of course, what ever ..umm.. well I forgot the expression, what ever floats your boat?! haha that doesn't sound like it makes much sense at all I also wanted to say that your child is gorgeous and I love it that her hair is red
