I love my hair!

How do I raise black princesses in today's world? Well, I'm not alone.  Joey Mazzarino, from Sesame street has an adopted daughter from Ethiopia. He made this video to encourage her and others about their hair. I was THRILLED to see this video pop up on my yahoo homepage because it couldnt have come a better time in our lives. Our 5 year old is struggling through some of this ALREADY! Lord, help me. I know that the world would be boring if we were all the same, but goodness it would be easier right now if everyone had the same hair! I love how Mazzarino uses this video to encourage his daughter and millions of African American girls to love their hair, just the way it is. This post is not meant to offend anyone just some things that have been on my mind and heart lately. Every time I dress my 5 year old she worries about what her friends are going to think, and compares her clothes to the "cute" clothes some girls in her class wear. REALLY? The biggest battle is her hair. She is very picky about how I do it, and her main concern is her friends. She's been told "your hair looks crazy, why doesnt your hair grow, how come you dont wear bows, why do you have those silly braids."  Now, lest you believe I take what my daughter says as 100% truth, I was right there for a few of those comments. Im not a very sensitive person, so none of it really bothered me until recently. I can see that my daughter is feeling like she is beneath her friends, like her friends with flowy hair are better than her, and that their hair is better. Another thing I blame is those DARN Disney Stupid princesses. Its a cult, i am sure of it. They are not outright with their brainwashing, but come on, all the princesses look alike, you have to have long flowy hair to be a princess. I catch my girls and their cousin putting towels on their heads so they can have long flowy hair. I should say CAUGHT cause I put a stop to that last time I saw it, I lost my cool and lectured them on how flowy hair does NOT equal pretty and beautiful. Its my fault too, I mean come on, weaves dont exactly re-iterate my point :)  We recently visited a predominantly black church with a friend, the one thing I noticed about my girls was the fact that when we walked in to check them into their classes, they were THRILLED to see so many other little girls with afro puffs, and braids, and pony tails and the like. For once they were not alone. It was neat, and Hannah still talks about it. Why is all of this starting so early? I am trying to raise two beautiful, african american princesses in today's world, and I feel like I am failing them. I want them to love their kinky hair, to not feel like others are superior to them because of the colour of their skin, to love and appreciate others and our differences. Its not easy. I pray that my girls, especially can know who they are in Christ and find their identity in HIM. Let's help each other raising these precious princesses in our world. Talk to them if they have friends who are not in their race. Talk to them about how we are all beautiful, talk to them about differences, if you do, then your chances of being embarrased later will reduce. I had one little girl at my church ask me if some black guys were "bad guys".Another asked me why I am burnt and if it meant that I sinned alot because I am dark. It does kinda make you wander if parents are avoiding crucial conversations at home. Let's all help each other out. And pray that we can have grace for others at all times. For now, at our house, we turn up the youtube video and dance around the house singing, "I love my hair!"