| Braids, Braids, and more Braids! |
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When my daughter turned five, she was suddenly of the mind that a braid would be wonderful. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to braid in the least.
I then bought a book on braiding and sat down one day with Madelyn, my daughter, determined to figure out how to braid her hair for her. But not only did I want to braid it, I wanted to do something nice, like a French braid. I wanted to know how to do both!
I focused on a normal, English braid first. I read that I needed a wide toothed comb and that I would need to brush the hair out as much as I could, leaving no tangle unattended to, not without my daughter occasionally giving a mild protest. I nodded to myself when I was finished. So far so good.
The next thing I was supposed to do was to separate the hair into three sections and comb each section smooth. I did so and then carefully crossed the left section over the middle section, then the section on the far right over the new middle. It took me a few tries but I thought I caught on rather quickly. I did so until I reached the end of her hair and tied it off.
“I finished that one!” I said, smiling and she grinned up at me. “Would you like me to try the other now?” I asked and she nodded. She’d been watching Sesame Street, still her favorite show, while I braided her hair so she wasn’t bored, obviously.
I looked back at the book and decided to try a “fishtail braid” which wasn’t French braiding but close to it. I would learn the French braid afterwards. This seemed like a good step towards it.
I carefully separated her hair into two sections after taking out the last braid and combed them smooth once more. I began at her hairline, crossing the right hand section over the left hand section. I then used a point of the comb and make a clear line to about an inch from the finished hair before doing the same thing as before, but I added a little more hair from both sides, and continued to do so until I reached the end of her hair. I then tied the remaining hair with a pony tail and performed the English braid, tying the end and admiring my handiwork.
I then decided to actually try a French braid, since I thought I’d done a fairly decent job of a fishtail braid. I turned the pages of the book and undid the last braid slowly, trying not to pull Madelyn’s hair.
I began this one in the middle of her hairline at her forehead, still having three sections out of the piece I was using, and crossed the right hand section over the middle. I then did the same thing but added equal amounts of hair from each side to the next part of the braid and switched sides, crossing the left hand section over the right now. I continued this process slowly until I reached the end of her hair.
Upon a second look at the book, I saw that I could simply make a Dutch braid as well. I would just need to cross the strands of hair underneath the middle strand rather than over. This would make the braid sit on top of the hair, rather than seem to be woven into it. I thought it would be rather cute.
“Do you like it sweetheart?” I asked and my daughter ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror, her braid swinging against her back. She came running back a few moments later, grinning widely.
“I like it, Mommy!” she exclaimed, hugging me. I laughed and hugged her back. From that day on she wore a braid almost constantly. I suppose there was something to be said about braids! |
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