Fix your Child's Hair!

This post comes with a warning. 

Caution: Please watch your toes.  They may get stepped on.  Read at your own risk. 

Selfish, self-centered parents…I can’t stand ‘em. We all know them and most of us simply ignore their shenanigans.  It’s accepted and almost encouraged in our society.  I’m not a vain person, per se, but I am a firm believer in appropriate, acceptable public appearances. Come on ladies, how can you justify getting your nails done while your kid is wearing tired, pill-balled hand-me-downs?  Parents that do not take the time or make the effort to teach their child to take pride in their appearance are just…selfish!  Listen, I’m all about living on a budget and stretching pennies. But, seriously.  Worn out, soiled clothing weighs heavy on young shoulders.  Beauty does come from within but it shows without. When these poorly dressed children feel less than worthy and less than attractive, they show a lack of desire to be clean.  They have dirty feet, dirty fingernails and frizzy, matted hair.  Can’t you teach your child to grasp the importance of taking pride in his/her appearance?  It drives me absolutely insane to see parents with their name brand jeans, fancy tennis shoes and recent dye job when their kids don’t even look like they’ve recently bathed.  Presentation and cleanliness are signs, in our society, of self-confidence and self-respect.  Who wouldn’t want their child to have a strong sense of self-worth?  Many people, I’m afraid. Children can be mean; just plain mean.  They do not want to be friends with someone that smells of days old sweat.  They don’t want to be friends with the child that hasn’t taken a shower in four days.  They don’t want to be friends with the child that looks like squirrels have been mating in their hair.  It isn’t skin deep.  It’s that even at a young age, they know.  These children, they know that the kid that looks “thrown away” is an easy target.  They sense the target’s fear and lack of confidence.  It’s a cruel world but it’s the world that we brought our kids into.  It’s the world that they have to live and learn to thrive in. Don’t you want them to thrive?  Children that are ridiculed and bullied run a strong risk of “failure to socially thrive.”  As a parent, you’re going to have to accept that you are the root of that failure.  It is your responsibility to teach your child to have just the right amount of self-confidence.  It is your responsibility to avoid over-inflating your child’s sense of self-worth without under-inflating it.  It’s a delicate balance and it is your responsibility to find it. You, mom, should feel ashamed to send your daughter to summer camp without even brushing her hair.  You, dad, should feel ashamed that your son smells like a donkey on a hot day. Do your job. Wash their clothes (& shoes). And, for goodness sake, fix your child’s hair!