My hubby's grandma (Honey) is very outspoken on her opinions, no matter what the conditions are. Since I started this journey, she has been against it and has said some pretty stupid/ignorant/harsh things. I have tried to ignore her, but have struggled with it. I have been told by my hubby that its just better to ignore than to discuss or argue on most topics.

Honey has said many times she doesn't understand why I would do this to my hair (even though I've told her in length about why I'm doing it). She says things that I allow to bother me. I shouldn't care about what she says, but sometimes its hard. The main thing I want is her to just drop it and mind her own business. But telling her that hasn't worked.

Just a few days ago I was picking my daughter up at her house and we were talking about my munchkins hair. Her hair is super curly and wavy. Honey was saying how when she was younger she wished she had hair like my kiddo's but she had long straight auburn hair and had such trouble trying to think of things to do with it. Then she made a few comments about how the color of her hair was what mine used to be like, before I did this to my hair...That my hair looks "dead" and has lost the pretty color. That mine also smells horrible. But now she wants to know what the hell I put in it to make it smell so bad. That my hair used to be so beautiful and now I've ruined it.

That set me off. I was so furious she would say this to me (and in the company of my 4 year old). I tried my best to stay calm and said that my hair is the same color it has always been, that my hair doesn't smell, my hair isn't "ruined" and most important that I think I am beautiful so that's all that matters.

And she shut up. End of conversation. I left the house with my daughter about 5 minutes later (my daughter was pulling on my arm trying to leave).

The only thing I was concerned about was the smell. That bugged me. Did my hair really smell? Here I was telling her it didn't, but what if it did? I don't want my hair to make people think that all dreadlocks are smelly and give them proof! I've since asked my co-workers and my hubby about the smell. They say they can't smell anything. And yes, I had a few of them come up to my head and take a big sniff of my locks, which was kinda awkward but no one complained!

Long ass rant later, my pride in my dreads is stronger. I love the journey I'm on. I wake up every morning feeling the crazy new additions/changes. And man, that felt good. To just say "I am beautiful" and believe it. I honestly don't think I could have done so prior to dreads. I am only 4 or so months into this, but I have grown more confidence than I have done so in years. If she brings up my dreads again, I'll just tell her exactly what I think : I am beautiful inside and out.

Hitting about 3.5 months...Just realized today I have tons of little chunks of hair that has been sucked into another dread near by where the roots are. I have decided to let a few of them do their thing since they are small enough, but there are two sections that would be way too big if I let them go. Over the next few days I'm going to be pulling hair out of one, but man! Both those stubborn dreads are tight! There are two chunks of hair basically criss-crossing from one dread root to the other dread. So I have to decide which one is easier to pull from and they are incredibly tight. We'll see if I can pull the hair out and get it back in. I realize now that the main reason this is happening is due to my crappy sectioning. I thought I had let my hair naturally section prior to doing my twist and rip, but nope.

Some of my dreads that I first started are tightly t/r that they actually are starting to feel "rougher" than my other ones, which I don't really enjoy...So I'm hoping maybe baking soda/acv will make those ones a bit softer to the touch...

AHHHH! (excited squeal)

A co-worker said "I like your dreads" to me today while passing in the hall! That was it, and it made my day. I was super excited! Mainly because this person hasn't been in our branch/office in over 6 months, so this was the first time he had seen me with them. It felt good knowing that they are resembling dreads and to have someone just say that unprovoked. I've had "compliments" from other co-workers but they almost always follow with a "but" this or that could be better. I don't mind the comments, but it just feels good from time to time to have someone say something nice or recognize what I'm doing with my hair without me having to explain it.

Also wanted to note that my daughter (almost 4) doesn't seem to understand brushing Momma's hair is not okay...she has several times recently tried to comb my hair.

And I have discovered that when my hubby doesn't shave his face for a week, the stubble is very much like velcro on my dreads. Bad bad bad!

I've had a few dreads come almost undone, but they had some knotting for at least 1/2 an inch of the entire "dread". Today I had one come completely undone in the very front! It was strange how earlier this morning it seemed to be fine but by the end of the day just had no knots, was completely straight. Still not sure why. I decided to t/r it again. I thought about leaving it to dread on its own but it got irritating having loose hair right in my face. So we shall see!

Tomorrow makes it 7 weeks! I love my hair so much right now. I look forward everyday to what new things I am going to see my hair doing. My father put it right when he said it's my own way of having more children right away.

I've been washing my dreads roughly about every 4 days now with the same Dr Bronners Lavender soap. I love that it does a great job in making my hair squeaky clean. Sometimes on the 2nd day I'll end up rinsing my hair with water just to feel refreshed.

I did a couple of sea salt sprays but haven't for the past 3 weeks. It does seem to help with the knotting, but eh, I don't want to over do it.

I also have been putting some tea tree oil on my itchy dry spots on my scalp and occasionally use some aloe to tame the frizzies for a few hours (When I have meetings at work I can't look like I put my finger in a light socket) . I have to go through and "tear" apart the roots every other day so they don't congo but otherwise, no maintenance. Not even palm rolling (because it doesn't do a damn thing for mine)

I have had numerous people say some things about dreads though and for the most part, I ignore them or educate them. There are a few people that actually AVOID me now because of my hair. Silly!

Almost all my dreads are about 6 days old now. One wash with the Dr Bronner's magic soap in Lavender so far....

I haven't used a comb in years, and my hair separates and tangles pretty good in parts but I always ran my hands through it and used conditioner. I have a hard time not playing with my hair so I figured that the neglect method wasn't going to work for me 100%. I needed to have a base foundation laid and then let nature do it's thing. So I went with Twist and Rip. I didn't want to initially lose length so it seemed the best for me. I think I lost about 2 inches total in length by twist and ripping.

No rubberbands for me so the ends are very loose and wispy. Looks like anywhere from 2 inches to 4 inches all the way around are loose. I'm hoping that it will eventually work up in the dread.