Here starts the journey! Mums with dreads.....

Would you feel bad about yourself if your kids decided to grow locks? People would look at you like you're a bad mother who lets her kids do crazy things like that. But what your kids do to their appearance does not reflect you as a mother. They are just expressing themselves. The same rules should apply to you. What you do to your appearance should not reflect on you as a mother. You are just expressing yourself.

Sure, there will always be those few people who think you are nuts and that you must condone drug use and that lifestyle. But in reality, all locks reflect are you and your values. And no one can no your values unless they know you as a person.

So don't let others get you down. If they don't know you, and are not willing to try, they're not worth the attention. It's hard at first, but you will learn to ignore negativity and bigoted comments. Just keep it up and believe in yourself.

Congrats in finally finding the strength to lock up. It'll be great and I'm sure they'll look wonderful on you.

updated by @baba-fats: 07/27/15 11:22:25AM

you should talk to my parents i would love for them to start dreading their hair but congrats!! you wont regret it :D

I don't have kids yet (hoping to have five someday), and when I realized I wanted to dread my hair, I thought I would get a lot of disapproval (from family and strangers), but that it would be nothing compared to the disapproval I will get when I become a mother.

Well, that moment hasn't arrived yet, but here's what I've found out so far. My family just teases me (my dad will enter a room just to ask me when I will comb my hair, laugh and leave), and my mom even allowed me to tnr 3 strands of her hair. She took them out eventually, but it has shown me how open she was towards the idea. My grandma, who is all about being fashionable (even though she's 85 xD), did not even notice them.

As for the people on the street, in the post office, and such - nothing bad has happened. They just look at the mess on my head, and 99% of them seem to like it, or to be indifferent. My mom's best friend LOVES them.

We'll see what will happen when I have kids, but all in all, my conclusion is that we think people are much meaner than they actually are.We should give them the benefit of the doubt.

I wish you all the best on your journey. :D

If you have them formed before you have kids, your kids will know you no different. They'll probably love them and just know them as you. They might even want to lock their hair when they are older

I wasn't worried about my kids, for them, having a mom with dreads and covered with tattoos will be normal. As a matter of fact, they'll have an uncle with a sleeve, so maybe they'll think all the people do something of the sort to their bodies. If nothing, they'll have live coloring books in the shape of their reltives. :D

I was thinking about other parents, but I am no longer worried about that, either. I have a new found faith in humanity. :D

If you're my age, around 25, most of our kids will grow up with parents with either tats, locks, or gauged ears. It'll be totally normal for them. I love the comparison of your kids growing up with a living colouring book in the shape of relatives. That's awesome. I never thought about that. My kids will be the same. I've got a full back piece and I'm nowhere near done.

Glad to know you're not worried about what other parents think. If your kids end up ok, then there's nothing anyone can say about you

there are so many things in parenting that you can agree & disagree with people on odds are that body modifications & locks aren't going to be the thing that determines who you do & don't mesh with. It will be more about your style of parenting than how you look. Even though the "typical" mom is still imagined to be more soccer mom style still, most younger moms are modified (many older ones too). Heck my mom had the "soccer mom" thing going on but she has a tattoo

This was a convo on a site the other day, & every mom that responded thought what set them apart was their piercings, tattoos, wild hair & such, but it was really it was something a lot of us had in common (in addition to our parenting styles).

Rainbow Fortune said:

I wasn't worried about my kids, for them, having a mom with dreads and covered with tattoos will be normal. As a matter of fact, they'll have an uncle with a sleeve, so maybe they'll think all the people do something of the sort to their bodies. If nothing, they'll have live coloring books in the shape of their reltives. :D

I was thinking about other parents, but I am no longer worried about that, either. I have a new found faith in humanity. :D

You are all awesome mamas!!!

I'm 27 and have been debating for the last 3 years about dreading my hair, my son is currently 19 months and my husband's dreads will be 3 years old this summer... Getting ready to take the plunge and go for it!!! I believe I'm going to do a combination of R&T and natural...

We will most definitely be dreading our little man's hair when hes old enough to ask for it, I think kids with dreads are adorable!

I am bit late to the discussion but hey aren't I always? lol.

I am a Mama (34) to two awesome kiddo's 5 and 3 and this is my second set of dreads, I did my first set when I was 30 before my daughter was born and I was about 6 months in when I combed them out because my Mom convinced me that as a Mom I needed to "look the part" so I caved.

Now i am three weeks in to the second set and I love it, doing all natural this time and enjoying the process and not giving a rip what anyone else thinks.

For me this is a personal and transforming journey both in and out, beginning with health and eating properly and also letting go of perceived notions of beauty to facing judgement of those around me and learning to stand up for my choices.

Cheers to you fellow Dreadie Mamas!!

My grandparents saw mine for the first time. My dreads are a little over a month into them now, gram just kinda wrinkled her nose a little and said they looked dirty. Of course she also said some other pretty classically lame comments to me about babywearing and breastfeeding too. I take her with a handful of salt most the time and still love her anyway The rest of my family was fine with it, if they thought anything they kept it to themselves. I like them and thats what counts anyway!

Its amazing how it feels to finally be able to let go of having to worry about taming this crazy freaking hair I was born with everyday! And I can't believe the progress I've been having in just over a month

Kaytee Elizabeth said:

i couldnt agree more!! =) i havent had anyone disapprove yet, but Im getting together with my gma and aunts this weekend, so we will see!