Braids

Lately, Teda is starting to be a little more open to wearing her hair different ways other than just in a headband each day. A few weeks ago, she let me put a little braid in her hair, and it was adorable. I thought, if she'll let me put a little braid in her hair, maybe she'll let me french braid her hair! So as she was in a mood to let me try it out (it has to be just the right timing with her when it comes to hair or clothes stuff), I set out to braid her hair like I'd dreamed of french braiding my daughters hair as a girl. Really, I did dream of that. I even practiced on my dolls, and I thought that I'd never be able to do it as well as my mom did. We used to ask our mom to braid our hair, and as we brought her the brush and our scrunchie (remember those? I loved those things!), we'd say, "No bumps please!" I'm sure it was at a time when my mom really needed to be somewhere, running late, but as kids we didn't quite understand that. Not like I do now anyways. :)

So, back to my Teda story. She let me braid her hair, and as I finished, I was actually a little impressed with myself. It was a bit loose, and not quite centered, but I thought, man I haven't done one of those in YEARS, and it came right back to me! Well, Teda ran inside to look in the mirror, and she seriously started to almost cry and pull it out! At first I was sad and embarrased that she didn't like it. But it was a little funny too, I couldn't be mad at myself or her- she's 3, she knows what she likes, and that was not it. That was nothing like she'd pictured it would look like. So it would have been very uncharacteristic of her to leave something in that she didnt like, so I'm actually glad she took it out. I want her to always be able to say what she likes and doesn't like, and I will just have to help her to know the kind way to say it. And I have to remeber that it's not personal, and it doesn't make me a bad mommy.

I'm the type that would've left it in, even if I hated it. I'm a total people pleaser and can't stand the thought of possibly hurting someone's feelings. I'm a work in progress of learning how to be honest and speak my mind. So I love that she speaks her mind and will let me (or others for that matter) know how she feels about things. She does have a very soft side to her as well- she loves her brothers SOOO much and is so nurturing and caring. She loves to be snuggled, but won't really ask to be (unlike her brother who is always asking to be held and loved).. so I have to be sure to give her lots of love because I know she wants it, she's just not as verbal about it. She's just precious!

I wonder if anyone who reads this ever gets sick of hearing how much I love my kids and how sweet they are... if you do, sorry but I just can't help it! I'm really doing this blogging to so that we can look back as a family and have memories kept in one place. I hope to even get this blog bound in a book somehow. Maybe each year or something... I'm still thinking through that one.

Needless to say, I did make her sit for a few more seconds with it in so I could take a picture to capture the memory of this realized dream of becoming a mommy and braiding my daughter's hair (whether she liked it or not!) That's my girl!