Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Braid my Daughters’ Hair)

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about some of the difficulties of doing my daughters’ hair and how I overcame them… it is pretty much a ten-minute read on how to do a pony tail.  One thing that I briefly discussed was that I was absolutely terrible at (even attempting) braids at that it would be a while until I tried again.  Well, Gabriella asked me for a braid the other night after her bath, and even though I feared the result, I acquiesced to her polite request.  And succeeded.

Braids have long been a big fear of mine.  I am pretty much a master at a pony tail and some of its variations, but braids have always given me trouble because I expect them to look like, well, better than they normally did.  In essence, the braids that I have tried in the past either did not look like braids or they definitely looked like Dad did them.

Things have apparently changed.  Not sure if I settled for something less than perfection or that I had more patience this time around, but things just worked out.  Gabriella left with a fairly decent braid and I left with a smile.  Seriously never thought that I would ever get over that hurdle.

Of course, the next morning, both girls wanted braids.  And I could no longer say no.  While Gabriella’s came out okay, Elaina’s came out pretty darn good; she has longer hair, so it was much easier to work with to make a nice-looking braid.  In fact, she loved it so much and was so proud of me that she immediately called her Mom to tell her.  Good timing too, as she was wearing her Elena of Avalor dress that day to the Child Development Center, so her hair was finally fit for a princess.  It got even better after I (proudly) told my colleagues at work about my “accomplishment,” with their responses varying from “Congrats,” to “Kudos, but I leave the hair stuff to my wife,” to “@#$% that!”  Anyways, to all you single Dads out there that are struggling with hair, or anything else for that matter, you will eventually get there; it just takes a little time, effort, and a whole lot of patience.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Cheers!