Chronicles: How To Get Your Curl Girl Hair Ready For School

Of course, the most difficult thing about having curly hair is that it takes FORever to style it. What you've likely noticed if you're a curl girl mom is mornings are super busy once school starts. Between grooming and meals and lunches and making sure homework is ready to go, time is tight. If you're not the type who likes to get up before dawn to work on hair, then try these tips to make sure your curl girl is always ready without too much intervention from you.

1. Style her hair on Sunday afternoon or evening. Sundays are the day to settle in and take the time to really work on hair without being rushed. Rushing is a problem because it usually causes more frustration, less careful practice, and therefore broken and snapped hair. Also, as the last day of the weekend it represents the perfect time to primp hair before the busy week ahead. Take your time and gather all the materials you need. Wash and condition her hair during bath time. Once bath time is over, go to your normal hair spot. Make sure she has something to preoccupy her. 
2. Use braids or twists. While we all love seeing curly, flowing locks, or puffy afros, it's important to remember that these styles require your attention everyday and cause more tangling, which could lead to breakage. Braids and twists keep hair de-tangled and protected. But, they also provide you with shortcuts. It also can't be overlooked that braiding or twisting hair prevents you from having to do too much maintenance during the week. 

Types of Braids: 

Our go-to style is the old-fashioned, tried and true barrette holding ponytail braid. It's not necessarily the most protective, however it lends to the idea that hair has been touched every day. Without changing the braids or touching them at all, you can change the color barrettes to match her outfit. This also gives you a chance to brush rough ends a little so it looks fresh without too much effort. If you wrap the hair in a satin or silk head scarf, it will last longer and need less maintenance.

Cornrows are also a style you can try. Cornrows are just as they sound. They are French style braids of approximately the same size in several rows like corn. When well-done with the right amount of oil and water, these are very forgiving throughout the week, or even longer if necessary. They are neat and very protective. Remember not to braid too tightly, as this causes breakage. And, if your curl girl will tolerate it, wrap the hair each night in a satin or silk scarf.

Types of Twists:

Mini twists are bitter sweet. While they are very protective in nature and last for weeks if not months, they are tedious to complete. Mini twists require parting the hair in 1/4 inch sections and twisting each section one by one. This could take hours and probably needs to start early morning, rather than afternoon or evening. Allow time for breaks to eat and do whatever chores will be necessary throughout the day so you don't become frustrated. There are times when this style takes too long and you have to finish on a different day. Be sure to start in the front of your head so any sections left undone can easily be put into a ponytail until you can finish.

Regular twists are generally an inch to an inch and a half thick. In fact, you can make them any size that seems to fit. While twists can be protective, it's important to note that they may require more maintenance than any of the other styles. Use conditioner and oils to ensure they maintain moisture.

Chronicles: Styling Your Curl Girl's Hair: Tips and Tricks

If you have a curly hair girl, then you already know hair sessions for her are like a battle. You've got one goal...taming that hair. She's got one goal, not letting you touch it. When the battle ensues, who will come out on top?

Of course, you're the mom so you know best. You know you'll have to address the issue of her hair to keep it healthy and presentable. But, what can you do to win the battle, or even create an environment that doesn't feel filled with strife?

Here are some tips for hair sessions that are sure to at least help make hair sessions more relaxing and a time for bonding.

1.) Distraction for her:

You have many options for distractions and it really depends on your child's dispositions and interests. My daughter loves songs and cartoons. I mix those by playing preschool related Youtube videos while I work on her hair. Frozen was actually our first distraction. The song "Let It Go" was played on a loop. She began wanting to watch the show itself as well. Whatever your child's interests, be sure to have them sitting nearby and allow her to indulge in them during hair sessions.

Some examples:

> Videos

> Toys

> Tablet

> Learning laptop

2.) Material organizer:

 Since there are so many aspects of styling curly hair, you'll need to be sure you have everything you need before you begin. A brush, comb, spray bottle with water, simple oil, pomade, barrettes, scrunchies, headbands, etc. Store these in a basket or some type of container so that you can easily reach and use them as needed.

To the left you're looking at a yarn spool that's filled with hair bobs, or barrettes that wrap around pony tails. They're color-coded, making it super easy to style her hair.  








On the right is an organizer holding small barrettes used at the bottom of braids to ensure they hold together. This organizer gives me a chance to keep them sorted by colors and shades to make it quick and easy to find the ones I need and make "hair time" simple. 

3.) Patience:

You know it's tough when you're going to have to gently get through her tresses no matter how long it takes. You can't go fast because you're likely to break the hair. You also can't be rough because she'll despise hair time, scream, and cry making it an all out war every time you need to work on her hair. Relax yourself before you begin by using whatever means you use to relax. *I do not recommend an alcoholic drink because you do have to be careful for this activity.

5.) Chair for her, chair for you:

Buying a stool, or a small chair where she can sit upright while you sit a little higher in your chair is very convenient for reaching tough spots and keeping her head straight or within reach for turns. I recommend a swivel chair for you. This way she can remain in the same place while you twist and move around the head.

Chronicles: 10 Tips For Your Curly Girl's Natural Hair

Were you privileged enough to have a sweet, precious little girl made of sugar and spice and everything nice, including a head full of luscious, curly locks? Do they seem to get tighter and drier with every passing day? Are you frustrated by her tender scalp as she screams and cries crocodile tears if you even so much as look at her with a comb or brush in your hand? Funny...I probably don't know you, yet your story sounds a lot like my own. As time goes on, hair becomes such a tough nut to crack, With boys dads usually just cut it, or we take them to the barber, as they know all about making boys' hair ready for manhood. And we know, cutting can be scary, but not necessarily that painful.

On the other hand, little girls and the question of how to maintain their tresses present a conundrum. They aren't going to sit still and gossip for hours while a skilled practitioner yanks and pulls at their locks for an hour or so. What's a mom to do? Here are some ideas about how to make this manageable so you don't end up taking your baby for a "perm" when their hair is just way too sensitive for it.

Your main goals:

1.) Give her a healthy looking and feeling head of hair by limiting breakage.

2.) Make it pretty and appropriate for her age.

3.) Keep your "hair time" stress free.

4.) Avoid the high cost of salons.

5.) Leave unhealthy chemicals out of it.

There are ways to achieve these goals without pulling your own hair out, but the work is not for the faint of heart. If you can't handle the sound of your daughter's crying or whining about how it feels to have her hair combed, this will be nearly impossible. If you're not in it for the long haul, meaning setting yourself up to know it may take a while, it won't work. But, if you're willing to set time aside and exercise an extra dose of patience, these techniques can truly do the job.

First things first! You have to examine what you're using to get the job done.

Tools:

Use combs and brushes with large amounts of space between bristles and teeth. Curly hair gets trapped around them and can easily be broken off or pulled out. 

Find shampoos that are paraben and sulfate free. Whenever anyone washes their hair it's going

through quite a process. It gets stripped of key oils and some damage actually occurs. What you want is to cleanse the hair with as little harm as possible. Dilute a paraben and sulfate free kids' version of shampoo to keep it safe and not allow the hair to go through too much trauma.

Use a mild conditioner made for kids' hair, also avoiding sulfates.

Oils, such as grapeseed, olive, or argan, are important to restoring moisture after a thorough wash, but the best moisturizing tool you can use is water itself. I know! Water shrinks curly hair and makes the coils even tighter. That's okay. Curly hair has a really difficult job of getting the sebum from your scalp all the way down the shaft. The curls inevitably deter this natural process so the tresses need help. Water is a great moisturizer for this process, along with a smoothing oil like the ones mentioned above.

*Pomades are a great way to seal in the moisture of the water and oil. The molecules of pomades are large so they don't actually moisurize the hair, but they work well to seal in the moisture you've already applied. They also give your baby's hair a healthy, glossy appearance.

Processes:

Shampooing: If you are washing her hair more frequently than twice a month you should reconsider. (See the reference to shampoos above.) Hair won't thrive if it's being traumatized with frequency.

How to:

Separate her hair into four sections and braid them. If it isn't that long yet, part it in four sections and use soft scrunchies to keep it in sections. Next, thoroughly wet the hair with water only from scalp to ends. Make sure it's soaking wet, as this prepares the hair for the shampoo. In the first section, pull the braid apart or take the scrunchy off. Use the diluted shampoo to wash the section by gently working the shampoo from the scalp down the hair shaft. Don't imitate shampoo commercials. Squeeze the shampoo gently from top to bottom to avoid breakage. When you're satisfied the hair is clean, apply conditioner and rebraid / put the scrunchy back on before proceeding to the next section. Repeat this process for each section until all four sections are complete. Rinse out the conditioner, unless you used a leave-in conditioner.

Drying her hair:

NO HEAT PLEASE! Of course, using any type of heat on hair does damage. Keep the hair braided
and allow it to air dry. If there's no time for that, it's okay. You can style a curl girl's hair while it's wet. In fact, that's the best way to do it since the moisture provides a slippery hair shaft making brushing and combing smoother and easier to manage.

Making Her Happy

This is the single most important issue for this period of time. If she's dreading the moment, you are setting yourself up for a negative experience every time, which will put you on a path to avoiding her hair. This, in turn, will result in you feeling like the salon is the only option. Make "hair time" a fun, enjoyable moment for the two of you by using things kids love.

> Her favorite video (a perfect time for binge watching Netflix)

> A vanity with a chair and mirror attached to see the progress ($20-$50) at Walmart / Target etc.

> A snack (cut grapes, baby carrots, apple slices, graham crackers, etc.

> Praise for sitting nicely and cooperating (high fives, little dances, applause)

These are just a few ideas for keeping your daughter and her hair happy. Visit my next entry to find out more about styling!

Chronicles: Infant to Toddler Room 3 Tools You Should Use

After many days and quite a few trips to the local home improvement store, we are finally finish changing our daughter's room.

Some really helpful tools we used were:

1.) Paint edger; This was so helpful. Painter's tape can be very helpful, but a tool like this sort of eliminates the need for so much of it. It's an awesome way to paint right up to the edge of the wall, ceiling, or outlet neatly and efficiently. I recommend it a kajillion times over.

2.) Command hooks / strips: We used these to avoid putting holes in the wall for the "picket fence", hanging curtains, and dress up corner. They are convenient and will make any changes to the room or any moves we have to make that much less stressful because we didn't have to drill any holes in the wall that will need to be repaired.

3.) Contact paper: Covering flaws that will inevitably come when any kind of wear and tear happens to the furniture is as easy as pie with Contact paper. We used a wood grain pattern to keep in line with the enchanted forest decor. We used it to cover the toy box and clothing dresser. It worked really well. But, keep in mind there are countless possibilities in styles and things that can be done with it.

Before:
We were working with an infant room that our daughter had seriously outgrown.









With a crib, rocking chair, infant swing, changing table, and diaper pail, it was clear she had outgrown her space and it was time to make a change.

So, we planned to move everything out, touch up the paint, and adjust it all. After running into a problem with the paint "touch up" and fixing it with a full paint job, it was smooth sailing.

After:

We added a toddler bed.

We added many storage areas.

 The toy box went through a remodel of its own, as we added Contact paper to each side to make it feel like a log in a forest. The three tier cube storage was fairly inexpensive and really easy to put together. It's holding legos and building blocks, along with some of her favorite toys. That way they're easily accessible and she won't have to pull root through the toy box to find them. We discovered that most of the messes kids make comes from having to empty out the toy box just to find the toy they really want. This way she can get to it easier and keep it neat.

 This storage box is stackable, so if we need to add more later we can. Right now it's only housing the tons of stuffed animals that she falls in and out of love with regularly. They are easy to put away and look neat when they're not on her mind. It's as easy fix to having them all over the room.

 This dresser was a changing table before. We took away the changing pad and covered it with wood grain self-adhesive Contact paper to help it blend into the decor more readily. Since she had written on it with orange marker it was clear it would either have to be repainted, or somehow covered. Contact paper became a life saver in this instance. Not only did it cover the scribbles, but it added a decor element that makes the room even more fun.

The storage on top includes a yarn spool that's holding her wrap around barrettes. She has many colors and sizes so this sorts it really well. The other organizer is for the barrettes that clip onto the end of her hair. There are so many of them in so many sizes, shapes, and colors that we needed a way to store them and keep them sorted. This way hair care time is quicker and more efficient.

We also added many decorative elements that help make this room enchanting and fun, as much as it is efficient. There are many decor choices that make tie into the enchanted forest theme. 

The curtains are from the decor section of a local department store. When I saw that they were leaf green and deep brown with lots of leaves all over, I was sure they would fit in perfectly. They were also economical since two panels were sold together instead of having to get each one separately.

Chronicles: Infant to Toddler Room How To Convert A Graco Crib

The transition from an infant room to a toddler room is coming along. So far, we've removed everything from the room and repainted gooey walls. Now it's time to work on the furniture in the space.

Our first challenge is to convert the infant crib to a toddler bed. Fortunately, we had this very milestone in mind when we purchased a crib that grows with the child. We've learned from experience that it can be pretty expensive to buy a new size bed every time your child grows. This bed converts into a full size bed later. For now, we are making the conversion to a toddler bed.

This model is a white Graco 3 in 1 transition crib.

1.) Take the front panel off of the crib. This was quite simple. Of course, it means we had to remember where the hex wrench was to unscrew the screws from each side. *In my tool kit I keep all the hex wrenches that come with different pieces of furniture in one place so it's easy to find when we need it. You can also store them in plastic sandwich bag. Once we took the panel off we also removed the mattress slat to lower it. 

The advantage of a toddler bed is that it's lower to the ground. As toddlers learn to sleep in a space that doesn't confine them, they may fall out of the bed a few times. The closer to the ground they are, the less scary that inevitability will be.

Once we replaced the mattress slat, the bed was ready to dress and be slept in for the first time without any confinement.

The bed is dressed and ready for a good night's sleep. The cover on top is a fleece no-sew kit that only took about 20 minutes to make. Since it went so well with the theme of the room and didn't have any characters it was a perfect fit for the room.

The front of the crib becomes a "picket fence"

FUN IDEA: The front slat of the crib was headed straight to the closet until I came up with a more fun idea. The closet will already have quite a bit of baby gear we simply don't need. So, I thought, why not use this to add some charm to the decor.

The crib slats give the impression of a picket fence outside a charming cottage in an enchanted forest. It's all about make-believe in a toddler's room.

Chronicles: Infant to Toddler Room Transition Forever Paint

As you know from Part 1 of this series, we are transitioning our daughter's room from being just right

for an infant to being the ultimate toddler destination. Our goal is to keep a basic neutral color palette. Staying away from characters and trends will help keep you from having to remodel every time your child grows out of a fad. Our colors are pastel pink, brown, and tan, with pink and brown covering only the smallest walls. They are the most personal and will be easy to switch should the need arise. Of course, we had this bright idea the first time around, but we didn't clean the walls well enough or use a strong primer. Lesson learned, we'll do it right this time.

We had to begin by clearing just about everything out of the room or pulling everything away from the walls so we could paint.

Painting added $80 and one full day to the overall allotted time and money. This is why it's important to know whether painting will be a part of your project or not. Paint and supplies can be a costly addition to any project.

Before painting: residue is visible

Initially I use "Goof Off" to get rid of the residue left over from the posters and charts on the walls. This was okay, but the chemical faded the color of the wall. This meant that I would absolutely have to prime the walls and repaint completely rather than simply touching up in places.

First, wash the walls and baseboards. This is important because any dust will derail your ability to get a smooth finish. Also, if you use painter's tape it won't stick very well to dusty walls and baseboards. Put down plastic or old rags to cover furniture and floors to avoid getting unwanted paint in those areas.

After repainting the residue is gone.

Second, use a heavy stain blocking, sealing primer on any walls you will cover. This step is especially crucial if the wall is already covered with a darker color. It will also ensure that any residue left after cleaning will be covered. *Many paints have primer built into them, which is very convenient when you use the higher quality versions.

TIP:  Instead of using a flat finish paint, use a satin finish. This is extremely important in homes where there are young children, or homes where you will need to clean the walls for any reason whatsoever. Flat finishes won't forgive smudges and fingerprints, leaving a messy, greasy appearance. Also, some flat finishes wash away or stain when you try to wash them. A satin or semi-gloss finish will prevent these issues.

Third, paint the walls using rollers. When you approach the edges use an edging tool. It works wonders if you follow the directions on the packaging to ensure you don't get paint in areas where you don't want it to go. I've found that painter's tape isn't necessary when using an edger. They are actually effective.

BONUS: Since you're painting anyway, this gives you a chance to fix a décor issue you've been wanting to adjust. We changed the color. Since the walls had a deep, peanutty tan, I chose to lighten this to coffee ice cream. It still blends really well with the pink and brown, but reflects the light better making the room feel larger and brighter.

Fourth, recover all paint supplies so leftovers don't dry out. Avoid removing the rags or plastics you used to cover everything until the walls are completely dry. Once the painted areas are dry, clean up so you can move on with your project.

Chronicles: Infant To Toddler Room Transition

Transitioning with our children from milestone to milestone is definitely a cause for celebration. As they grow and change it's our job as parents to be there to help them. One really big transition is growing from infancy to toddlerhood.

That said, our family is currently living through this major transition as our daughter is turning 3 years old. Among other things, one really big part of the transition is the room remodel. She's still sleeping in a crib and has a changing table. From her rocking chair to her diaper pail, several changes will need to be made to her room so that she can more comfortably navigate this stage of her development. There are also several things happening in her room that need adjustment or repair. We'll be taking advantage of this opportunity to address some of these things. Join us in a four part series as we share tips and tricks to help the process run smoothly.

Before:

Right now the room is a typical nursery... 

There's a crib next to a rocking chair for storytime and an infant swing that she's too heavy to use anymore.











The changing table is no longer of use because she's potty training. There is also some scribbling on the drawers of the changing table, which we plan to convert into a clothing dresser.

Current nursery

When decorating the nursery, we kept the colors and decor somewhat neutral to ensure there wouldn't be a need to change anything significant as she grows older. This would have been a great plan had we scrubbed the walls more thoroughly and used a primer the first time we painted.

The nursery used to be the

homeschool classroom.

Since her nursery used to be the homeschooling room, there was residue left over from the tape used to post charts and posters. It bled through and is now highly visible on each of the walls. So, we will need to fix these imperfections.