A Mother’s Natural Love

By Angela Carstarphen Watford
 
My mother loves me with all her heart and she would have never done anything to harm my self-esteem or me while I was growing up. She is the mother of three girls, and she has always taught us to be beautiful—on the inside and out. But growing up in Atlanta, the home of Bronner Bros., BAPS (Beautiful African Princesses) and everything fried, pressed and curled—my naturally thick, beautiful hair didn’t stand a chance—neither did the belief in it. Also, my mom has soft, straight hair that barely holds a curl, and if you put any type of relaxer on her fine strands, it would fall out instantly. So she had never dealt with hair that was hard to comb and took more time to style. Therefore, the first time her beautician told her my hair would be much easier to comb and manage with a relaxer, she didn’t even question the process. This led to me perming my hair for most of my life, and thinking that my hair was only gorgeous only after a fresh perm.
 
Now that I’m a mother, and I’ve been natural for almost four years, I know that I would never stress out my daughter’s hair. Even though she’s not here yet (my baby girl is due this month—hallelujah!), I will teach her that her God-given locks are beautiful just the way they are! In fact, I can’t wait to see if she has hair like I did as a five-year old (even now, my hair is not half as gorgeous as it used to be, before perm) or like my mom does or either one of my sisters. The fact is, it doesn’t even matter. I don’t care what her hair texture or curl pattern may be, she will love everything about herself—from head to toe! And I’m not downing my mom or any other mother who permed their kids’ locks, because truly, my goal in life is to be half the mother my mom is. But, I will not let society, a beautician or anyone else tell my kids what beauty is.
 
Mothers love their kids unconditionally. It’s time to teach them to love themselves—hair, body, skin, soul—unconditionally.

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