P-a-t-i-e-n-c-e

I've been very happy with the locs so far. It is so much easier to manage on a day-to-day basis. It is literally wash and wear -- or sleep and go as the case may be. Maybe a quick spritz with water or pulling the front up into a loose top knot. Wow! Sometimes I think I am not happy with larger size in the back but I think it will work out fine as they mature and I get used to the look. I'm also pleased that once we washed all of it and the hair had a chance to dry naturally (vs the stiffer look of freshly installed or tightened locs) the unevenness of cut is much less noticeable.


Naomi goes back and forth between whether she likes them or not. I think she pictured them longer and is disappointed that they are not (most of the other girls she saw before getting them already had longer hair). I also think she is just not used to sporting a looser look, and her hair is very full! We have had many a talk about p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e.

Normal separating after a shampoo, soaking, or swim only takes about 15 minutes! I had done one quick recount where I got 388 locks, but when I washed it last night to get it ready for today's retightening, I counted slowly and carefully and got 390 locks. Separating today took about 35 minutes, but according to our locktician I wasn't getting close enough around the base as there was still some tangling. So I guess my record time will increase. Oh well! Still isn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined.

Here we are shampooed, separated, and ready to tighten



And after retightening . . .

And then adding the front done in nice loose cornrows and beads, all ready for school!

YIPPEE!

Here's a happy Naomi with her happy Sisterlocks-tician . . .

Monday, February 16
We're done!!! We had two mini-sessions today and finished with 404 locs. I'll do a re-count next time we shampoo and separate, just to make sure our notes were correct. We spent a little more than 35 hours with our loctician, and with stretch breaks and other interruptions, the Sisterlocks probably took around 28-30 hours. Some small fussing aside, Naomi did great with the long periods of sitting. We watched allot of movies!!!

Since it took so long to finish some of the first sections are almost ready for retightening. In fact, our loctician did a few of the front ones today, and we will go for our first re-tightening session in a couple of weeks.

Naomi's locs are still a bit fuzzy at the tip due to her hair texture, and even though the locs are done as close to the tip as possible, a bit at the tip is left a little looser to encourage the locking process. The whole tendril will "lock up" from the tip to the scalp and get more "mature" as time goes on.

I was upset to find that Naomi's hair, especially a section on the left side, was cut very unevenly. Several months ago I took Naomi to an Ethiopian salon for a trim, thinking they would be familiar with her hair type and able to do a good job. I wasn't happy with it at the time, and now that I see that it has such a huge snafu, I am even more unhappy. But what can you do? I am only sad that once the locs are mature and we are able to trim it and shape it up, that we will have to lose allot of length to make it even.

Lovin' our locs . . .

The sprint to the finish

Sunday, February 15

There is light at the end of the tunnel. We only have a small section on the right side of the back to finish . . . maybe 3-4 more hours. Whew! We are all anxious to be finished. Today seemed to move quickly ~ we got 63 locs done and are now up to 343. It is funny . . . the unfinished sections look like such small amounts when it is braided up, but unbraided and combed out it takes on a life of its own and becomes a huge cloud of soft fuzzy curls that take so much longer to loc than one initially anticipates.

Sunday, February 8

We're in a rhythm now. The back of Naomi's head is not so sensitive as the top was and the back loc size is a larger, so we can move a l-i-t-t-l-e bit faster. There is only one long section on each side of the back to complete.

I put the two back side sections into cornrows again to transition to next week. The top layers camouflage the braids underneath so she can even wear her hair all hanging down now. She is very tired of sitting but loves the versatility of her locs.

It's Getting There

Sunday, February 1

Naomi is restless and fussy today. She's been unusually tired and mopey all day and I think may have a small bug of some sort. We need to keep slowing down because the pulling is bothering her. (Yes, perhaps I shouldn't spoil her and cater to her tenderheadedness, but I do want this to be a good experience for her). AND we encountered a couple test locs put in by one of the other consultants we interviewed. They are not lined up with what we are doing and are a different pattern, so it took some time to take those out before we could move on. We finished the day with 230+ total locs.



We have the rest of the back middle section to complete, and then the two sides of the back. So probably a good three more sessions. She has so much hair! Once finished, the earlier sections will be about due for a tightening, so we'll probably have to give it all a once over to get everything tight and consistent.

This time we put the unlocked hair in the back into large cornrows for our transition to the next session.

Sunday, January 25

Another Sunday afternoon locking hair. Sunday is the only chunk of free time that works for both us and our loctician. We've settled into a routine . . . pop in a DVD, set out some snacks, have water handy to stay hydrated, and a timer that Naomi gets to choose when to set for her next stretch break. She is so good and often adds more time once it rings. I think the control helps her to not be so restless. I encourage lots of stretching when we do take a break, and there is mini-tramp to bounce off some energy. We're up to almost 200 locs!


It's a bit of a challenge styling through the transitions, but so far we have been doing pretty good. Here we are ready for school with the front locs pulled back, unfinished upper back sides braided, and unfinished lower back sides and middle back pulled into a low puff.

We're locking and rolling

Monday, January 19

The kids were out of school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we planned on hair for the whole day. We were really hoping to get most of it done. And even though we spent from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with only a few stretch breaks and a short hop to McDonald's for lunch (we even brought it back to eat it), we only finished the front section. Naomi's hair ranges from 6"-9" in length and each loc takes about 2-3 minutes. But with separating, parting, and combing, the total time per loc is probably closer to 5-6 minutes! We now have 150-some locs completed.


Here we are with front locs tied up, and the unlocked hair in the back in box braids with big beads.

Sunday, January 18

Washed, combed, and ready to go! ~ FYI: Her hair in these pics is soaking wet.





Parted out!

Even though I had it all combed out in the morning, it still took close to 45 minutes just to separate her hair and get the sections parted. Now you know why I am so excited for the locs!


The locking process is going much slower than any of us anticipated. Naomi is very tender-headed, and our sweet loctician is very accommodating to her needs -- thankfully, or it may take even longer. The first day we did four hours and got a small section in the front complete; about 40-ish locs.

Naomi is getting Sisterlocks!

I’ve posted on my adoption blog about our braiding experiences ~ it's just not that nostalgic mother-daughter bonding time that that I’ve read about in folk literature. It is more a time of impatience, short tempers, fussing, and scowling -- from both of us. Every weekend we would struggle over when to do hair, how to do hair, and more often than I would like to admit we would just skip it and go for the puffy bun. Not that it didn’t look just cuter than cute - the first day. But it succumbs to the fuzzies by Day 2 and even my best attempt at small braids would last a week at most. I refuse to surrender to chemicals … although on Christmas eve day I did give in and use a flat iron to straighten her hair. On top of the fact that it took 3-1/2 hours to do, it looked only “okay” the first day - though she liked it - and less than okay until we got back to doing something else the next week. Thankfully she was not in school and we have allot of headbands.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I happened to run into another family with two Ethiopian daughters and their hair was adorable. When I asked how they had it done, the answer was Sisterlocks! It sounded vaguely familiar and I rushed to do my research.

Sisterlocks is a patented technique of “locking” the hair into small tendrils. “Sisterlocks allows the hair's natural interlocking process to unfold, they are true ‘locks'. This means that they are not meant to be undone.” It is quite time-consuming and costly to put in, but then only needs to be tightened every 6-8 weeks. In the interim, hair is much easier to style, manage, and maintain. It also encourages faster growth and looks marvelous! Both Naomi and Mom are very excited.

Stay tuned for pics of getting started . . .

In the meantime, here are some photos of pre-Sisterlocks hair over the past 9 months.

Braids:









Extensions:



Puffy Buns:





Loose: