Mom Seriously: InHAIRited: What's Your Legacy?

I'm wondering if we should just do an entire breakout session for the girls (and the women, too!) at the next Pure In Heart on a subject with which we all struggle: HAIR.

Hair brings one's self-image into focus; it is vanity's proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices. ~Shana Alexander

Years ago, before kids, Rich and I were part of a church we loved in Charlotte, NC. When we joined, the church was seeking a pastor, and when they brought in a guy for the church to consider, I had a few issues. (Please don't be too hard on me. I was used to my daddy being my pastor for my whole life. Is there a preacher's kid (PK) support group somewhere? It is hard to be an adult church member when you have always been a PK!) This guy had the whole I'm-balding-so-in-a-clever-only-to-me-attempt-to-disguise-it-I-will-do-a-combover thing going on, and I remarked to Rich, "I'm not sure about him. He is evidently a little too preoccupied with his hair."

And Rich, without skipping a beat, said, "This coming from a woman who is absolutely psycho about her hair?"

Psycho? Really? We'd only been married a few years, and he felt like he could make that kind of judgment about me?

Well, yeah, okay, I totally am. But I'm a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't I get a pass or something? :)

Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually you find a hair stylist you like. ~Author Unknown

One thing I never wanted to do, however, was pass on my hair craziness to Danya. Her hair is just like mine. When she was around four or five years old, I was spinning the merits of curly hair to her one day, and I said, "Oh Danya, your curls frame your face just like a picture! God only frames the most beautiful faces with curly hair!" (Please excuse my theology on that one--I was in my twenties! LOL)

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

I didn't know that David, who was about two at the time, had been listening, and he piped up with, "I want to have a frame!"

To which I replied, "Honey, frames are just for girls." :)

I always wanted hair like Marcia Brady's. The complete opposite of mine, hers was blond and straight as a stick. (You think she wished for curls her whole life? LOL!) But I wonder how hard it would be for us to honor our hair for the sake of our daughters. Just whatever you've got, consider it your frame, your crowning glory as a daughter of the King. Truthfully, you set the tone on whether your daughter inherits a healthy attitude about her hair, or if she fusses and frets with it all her life.

The hair is the richest ornament of women. ~Martin Luther

Is there anyone who hasn't had hair issues? Anyone who hasn't, at some point, been preoccupied with her hair? Here's how to help your daughter through some of her own harried days:

Compliment her often on having a "great hair day!"
Let her experiment in age-appropriate ways with new styles (and teenagers, with different colors. It will grow out!)
Remember that she is not you, and she needs to do her own thing, okay?
Hair styling products are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Adopt the philosophy: The More, The Merrier! :)

I know y'all have got some hair stories, too. Please share: What have you inHAIRited? And what do you want your legacy to be?