WAG Need advice from experienced hair masters!

[twinmomma]

DD has been wearing a bun in competition since last December and has backward and forward rolls in her routines. The trick is getting it high enough. On the forward roll they are actually supposed to not lead with their head so it shouldn't be an issue, and on the backward roll if it's high enough it's out of the way. It doesn't bother her and the way I do her hair it does. not. move.

 

[COz]

Same here (as in, mine is a bun girl and wears them all the time for training). But there is a fair bit of skill involved. I do think this is harder to get right than just braiding it with gel.

 

[Aero]

All right ladies, behold! A complete hair disaster. A travesty of French braids.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/91nnlwczbs3tdvm/Photo Oct 12, 5 28 34 PM.jpg?dl=0
One of the moms let me have a shot at braiding her daughter's hair today after routines. Poor girl... BUT I DID IT! Now I am compelled to do it better! What have you done to me!

 

[reillysmom2]

And that's why I think there shouldn't be a mandated hair style. You will have parents with various degrees of hairstyling, some will look super and some will look like....well, mine would look prob similar to yours.
If you have some kid that it's a problem not having their hair up and nice and neat repeatedly, then maybe I could see mandating some sort of hair style. Until then, please I beg of you on behalf of all hair challenged moms like myself, just let them do a neat bun or ponytail or whatever they are capable of!

 

[sce]

You are such a good sport for trying.

 

[COz]

Well done! Love the thumb!

With a bit of practice you can be the official hairdo-er

Thank you. I think that gives you a bit of perspective about the effort required to get it done neatly.

I must say, that is entirely decent for a first go. You'll be a pro in no time!

 

[COz]

@reillysmom2 , I think "hair challenged" just means that it's something that you're not interested in, just not a priority. Which is absolutely fine!!!

I don't think anyone should be forced to learn and practice how to do hair neatly in a fancy way.

If hair is safe and neat enough then that's fine. For a competition then I'm not against a team style as long as it is not unreasonable, people who don't want to do it have access to someone who can do it for them and as long as the coach is capable of fixing it if it comes loose

 

[gymbeam]

love that you accepted the challenge! not bad work for a noob!

 

[Sasha]

hahaha. That's awesome @Aero . I'm sure with a few 'corrections', you'll move up to L2 braid mastery in no time.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

Hi Aero, over on the Scrunchies etc social group we are working on possible ideas for you but need to know whether all your girls have long hair and what is the longest and shortest length (not in cm, just eg chin length/ waist length). Also how old are they?

 

[Aero]

@GymMumInFrance | HAHAHAHA!!! You guys are working on ideas for me?! I love it. You guys are really sweet. To answer your questions, they all have hair that is decently long, all below the shoulder I believe. I think one or two have about waist length.

I have 9 girls competing.

• (1) 6 year old
• (2) 7 year olds
• (3) 8 year olds
• (2) 9 year olds
• (1) 10 year old

 

[Dr Maleficent]

Ok, I will try out a couple of the ideas that have been suggested in the group on my 7 year old guinea pig er gymnast and post pics during the week so you can see what you think!

 

[Sari]

Aww, that's so good for a first attempt, Aero!
My first French braid looked way worse. Keep practising, haha!

 

[twinmomma]

@reillysmom2 , I think "hair challenged" just means that it's something that you're not interested in, just not a priority. Which is absolutely fine!!!

I don't think anyone should be forced to learn and practice how to do hair neatly in a fancy way.

If hair is safe and neat enough then that's fine. For a competition then I'm not against a team style as long as it is not unreasonable, people who don't want to do it have access to someone who can do it for them and as long as the coach is capable of fixing it if it comes loose

I disagree. My wife tries like heck to do DD's hair but to no avail. She just has two left thumbs. She offered to take DD to a travel meet instead of going with our son to his baseball game and I said, "Are you going to do her hair?" and she conceded our original plan was better. Hair is a huge anxiety for the parents who aren't comfortable with it. There's enough anxiety surrounding meets, I just think adding mandated complicated hairstyles makes it worse.

 

[3LittleGymmies]

I have tried this style on my daughter, but her hair is so thick that it's almost impossible to get the french braid tight enough and the braid really doesn't show well unless it's really tight. If you're set on requiring a style, I would try for something more simple like slicked back into a bun.

 

[Seeker]

I disagree. My wife tries like heck to do DD's hair but to no avail. She just has two left thumbs. She offered to take DD to a travel meet instead of going with our son to his baseball game and I said, "Are you going to do her hair?" and she conceded our original plan was better. Hair is a huge anxiety for the parents who aren't comfortable with it. There's enough anxiety surrounding meets, I just think adding mandated complicated hairstyles makes it worse.

Totally agree. My DD's hair would not accommodate this style well. It's not for lack of trying....it's just that her hair is way too thick, too long and too fine to do this style well. It would fall out before warmups was over.

 

[seoulmama]

I second the notion that my lack of hair finesse is NOT for lack of trying-I've quite literally spent hours trying to actually french braid my DD's hair-not to mention all the videos I've watched. I just cannot accomplish much more than a mess!

 

[Ali'sMom]

I second the notion that my lack of hair finesse is NOT for lack of trying-I've quite literally spent hours trying to actually french braid my DD's hair-not to mention all the videos I've watched. I just cannot accomplish much more than a mess!

I'll "third" that
And as much as I try, DD is a perfectionist in her own right... add competition stress to that, and if there's a little "bulge" or anything, well, it's not a pretty sight. So, where I am willing to take whatever time is needed to try and learn the hairstyle, just knowing that DD might fall apart when it's done makes it very hard to give it my all. (I can't be too hard on her though, as I am indeed the one who got my hair done for prom, and while waiting for my best friend burst into tears looking in the mirror. And the best - for my own wedding, I let the stylist put my veil in, ONLY because I knew as soon as I got back to the hotel I knew how to take it out and re-do it myself. Yeah, um, my apple hasn't fallen far from the tree...)

 

[COz]

@Ali'sMom @seoulmama @twinmomma : Has anyone taken the time to really sit with you and show you how to do a braid or bun, watched you do it and helped with corrections etc. and done this over multiple sessions?
If not, then don't blame yourself. I wasn't trying to say that people just had to want to and they could, I didn't mean that at all, I hope I didn't offend anyone.

If someone has made a really decent attempt to help you, over multiple sessions and you still can't do hair, then that's great, it sounds like you have a lovely friend who will spend the time to do your child's hair for you

I suspect the people who are most comfortable with hair had long hair as teenagers and spent a lot of time practicing.

 

[reillysmom2]

Thank you all for sticking up for me!
@ COz, you might be right. Maybe I don't have enough interest or want to to be able to do this. But I do know DD's hair. It's long, thin, and baby fine. It's difficult to get any hairstyle to stay up neatly, let alone my amateurish attempts. I've even had experienced, licensed hairdressers do her hair, and still have problems with it holding up. My DD would freak out if I made a mess in her hair and be stressed out over that. Meets are stressful enough, at least for me. It's all my nerves can handle, and as she progesses thru the levels (now level 7, hoping to compete 8), the last thing I want to worry about at a meet is if she's worried about her hair. I'm always hoping for a a good safe meet, that she stays in one piece, and that she feels good about herself and her gymnastics at the end of the day.
I'm sorry if I'm being a party pooper, I don't mean to be.