Treated Like A Diva

 About a year ago I found a little salon near our house that Beth and I fell in love with. We've been there a couple of times and Beth went again last week.

 

We looked through pictures of shoulder-length hair styles and she picked this one:

 

 

At first my heart sank because Beth has straight hair. I don't know if it's because she has Down Syndrome or not but it's very straight. I explained to her the difference between a cut and a style. That this lady's hair looks like this because after they cut it, they used a blow dryer and maybe a curling iron and it looks like this because of the way it was styled, not cut.

 

I remember when Beth was born most of the pictures of adults who had DS had short, cropped hair. We didn't know why most pictures showed that cut, but we hoped it was because many of them were living in institutions and it was easier for the caregivers to manage. But we wanted to make sure Beth's hair could grow long, and it did.

As she's gotten older though she likes it a little shorter. Probably because... it's easier to manage. 😊

 

So we confirmed that she did want her hair cut just a little past her shoulders, and when we got to the salon, we showed the photo to the stylist. She was young (to me) just turned 30 and was excited about the photo. Beth sat in the chair and Kaitlyn got to work.

 

First she shampooed her hair, then cut it and blew it dry.

 

 

 Then she began to style it. She talked to Beth about work and family while she worked her magic. And when she was done...

She loved it!! Not as big and full as the photo but a current style that Beth was so excited about! The curls were soft and exactly how she wanted them. It turned out so good, the salon asked Beth if they could take her picture.

 

Now I'm trying to replicate it. Haven't had much success yet and I keep telling Beth I need to practice, but when I'm doing her hair in the morning I'll ask her if she wants me to curl it and she sadly tells me, "Just straight." I've got to learn how to do this!