My Mother's Nightmare

I’ve officially been a ‘Dreadhead’ since 2011, and it has been my favorite life decision thus far! Being able to shave off an hour from my every-morning routine has saved me on so many different levels. Not to mention, in my opinion, my head looks completely rad!!

My mother was not nearly as thrilled about the cosmetic transition as I was. In fact, it took me close to six years just to get her to accept the fact that this is what I wanted to do with myself. Tattoos, piercings, and other body modifications never fazed my mother, whereas many other parents would get chills thinking of their children covered in holes and permanent ink… The first time I told my mom I wanted dreadlocks she looked at me as if I was completely insane “Uh, I don’t think so” was the only response I got.

As years passed, the subject would be brought up randomly and each time Mom had a comment about my “long beautiful hair” and how bad it would look if I dreaded it all up. Finally, I had enough… and this was probably one of the only times I can remember actually rebelling against my mother (we always had a very clear relationship, one full of respect and understanding- and I was often too big of a wimp to break the “rules”).

Mom loved my long curly hair so much she would not let me dread it, so I decided to make a drastic decision. I cut ALL of my hair off, and not into a cute little bob cut either. I had a close friend at the time cut my hair into a female mohawk. It was the most ugly hairstyle I’ve ever worn in my life… but a point had to be proven. My mother made fun of my hair for a good couple of months as it worked through the awkward phase of growing back to a normal length. I hated it, but I wasn’t going to let her know that. She definitely expressed how much she disliked it, though.

It took about two years for my hair to grow back evenly to a nice shoulder’s length, and the entire time it grew, I daydreamed about how awesome it would be to have locks as gnarly as Bob Marley himself (only cleaner). I’d say it was fate the day that I was flipping through the yellow pages looking for a used tire place because, as I opened the book to a random page, an ad for a dread stylist was staring back at me. I immediately called to talk to them. The woman stated that she had “never done Caucasian hair before” but she was willing to give it a shot. I placed the appointment and convinced my little sister to accompany me. It took a total of 6 hours to start my dreads, and I returned home to share with my mom the great news.

As I walked through the door and into the kitchen Mom's jaw dropped. “Oh my God” was all she said, and I laughed and went straight to my room to admire my new 'do in the mirror. My mom dropped one-liners about how she couldn’t believe I did it, and how she “wasn’t thrilled” for a few days. After about a week, my mom simply said, “well, if anyone can pull it off, I guess it’s you”. She’s loved them ever since.