It seems we need to address the issue of Kate's hair….
This is not the first comment but this one just came in today.
Hi,
I love your blog, but can you please do something to Kate's hair? It's severely broken off in the front and the rest looks matted 
The damage might be from relaxers, so maybe you can let her go "natural" instead?
Just some suggestions, please do not be offended.
Even Kate's birthmom emailed me and said, "What is going on with Kate's hair?"
Here is the explanation.
Kate has Trichotiliomania.
We have not medicated her. We are trying the behavior modification technique.
She is getting better…maybe. She is trying hard.
But it's a mother's worst nightmare.
Especially when you are a white mother with black children.
It's so easy to assume that, because I am white, I don't know what to do with black hair. I will admit to not knowing how to braid, but I know how to take care of their hair. Almost all my little black girls have VERY long hair. You can't get that without knowing how to do it.
This nightmare began about a year ago. I started noticing long braids under her bed in the morning. When I would ask her about it, she would say that Pickle had pulled her hair and must have pulled them out. For all of you that know Pickle, you can attest that this was a believable explanation.
Then I noticed the front of her hair was constantly fraying up and coming out.
I thought she was being braided too tight and it was causing it to break off.
Then I thought maybe it was the relaxer that Pauline was using on her hair.
Then I noticed the HUGE bald spot on her left side. It had been easily hidden until I pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
She denied pulling.
She still denies pulling, but the pile of hair under her bed and the bald spot that grows, and moves around her head, says differently.
We have now taken her braids out. and cut a few inches off the back so she doesn't look like she has a mullet.
We are brushing and greasing and ooohing and aahing over how cute she looks and how great her hair is doing and growing. We are still taking oodles of pictures and singing the praises of how stinkin' beautiful she is. We are discussing the nightmare of it all in hushed tones and keeping her stress level to a minimum.
By the end of August, we are hoping we have grown enough hair in the front to redo braids. If not, Pauline will give her a short spunky hair-do, to match her personality, for school.
Send hair growth prayers our way please!
