Overcoming the Parents

My mother still has not come around. Thank God I am on a different continent to her because if she knew that I had cut my hair after she gave me strict instructions not to...well lets just say I would not be here on Earth to type this message.

Also I think this thread is important as after talking to a few teens I have noticed that their number one hindrance are their parents, more specifically their mothers. Is there anyone out there who managed to turn their parents around or at least get them to be okay with their decision? Is there anyone out there with a truly inspirational story where your mom or family members now want to go natural because of you? I know my aunt can't keep her hands out of my hair and her friend keeps asking me what I'm using in my hair because she has noticed the significant growth (like I have a magic potion or something lol)?

So dish ladies you may help a fellow teen out or let her know that she is not alone.

bump

Two summers ago, like a week before my hair was scheduled to be relaxed I said "mummy I don't want my hair relaxed anymore". She thought that I was joking. (Note she relaxed my hair not a hairdresser)
Of course she had a lot of questions such as why and pestered me for a whole week.
I simply wanted to see how my natural hair looked after all these years.
I think she is the one who got most scared because I begged her to cut my relaxed hair. She refused for months and I thought that I would end up with a relaxer again.
She had to give in after they started to fall out on their own.
Now and again she would ask me if I would like to have a relaxer again.
As my natural hair began to grow out really quickly she stopped asking.
She even told me last month that she would never relax my hair again because compared to back then it's better off now.

Moral off the story: Your parents would come around to the idea and accept it as long as they see that it's helping you accept you.

thts really inspirational kurly

My dad threatens to make me relax it every time he sees me which is at most once a month. He claims to be joking but I know deep down he wishes I'd go back to relaxers and put my transition to rest. I don't have his support. And my grandmother, she just gave up when she realized there was nothing she could say to make me give up and turn back to the "creamy crack". I still get the disappointed look and head shake whenever she sees my hair, or it needs to be styled for an upcoming event. (I'm not the best at styling it but I'm not turning back!) At least my mom's with me

When I was about 2 months post-relaxer, and teeter-tottering back and forth on going natural or relaxing again, I spoke to my mom and aunt about it. My aunt claimed that natural hair doesn't look "soft and feminine" like the short, straight bob I was wearing at the time did. My mom said that it was just another phase I was going through, and they both kind of just laughed it off.

When my mom realized that I was serious and refused to get a relaxer, she suggested that I transition for a very long time before chopping, even offering to pay for my sew-in weaves. She said when I finally go all natural, I would probably have to get a texturizer.

I ended up getting very frustrated with my hair and doing my own big chop after only about 5 months or so. I walked out into the kitchen to show my mom and she had this indescribable look on her face. She said something like "You don't plan on wearing your hair like THAT do you? I don't like it.... I really don't." That hurt. Bad. But I showed no emotion on my face and simply said "Well I do," and walked away.

My hair has grown and I'm falling more and more in love with it. I'm away at college so my mom doesn't see my hair. I sent her a picture of my first twist-out and she replied "How did you get it to look like that?" I told her and she said "It looks good!"

So eventually she came around. The last time I spoke to her she asked "So how's the 'fro?" and even told me that she was excited to see how big it would be by Christmastime.

My parents are fine with my natural hair. I've been natural most of my life so its nothing new to them. Though I wish when I was younger my mom could have understood how to take care of my hair better, (but its not her fault, plus I was a tomboy, and didn't care much about my hair back then). My friends and people I know were okay with it, and I got a lot of complements when I decided to go completely natural my sophomore year of high school. Though these two girls (white) asked me when was I going to straighten my hair?