I want to get dreads. (help/questions)

Hmm...then I guess you have to take the moral road and say you saw a documentary about people that donate their hair to be used for wigs for little children and you did some research and its best if the hair is unbrushed. That should buy you some time to grow your hair for another 2 years and have a reason to not brush it. Then once you hit 18 you should be home free, that is, if you plan on moving out.

 

hahahha good idea. really, I will once i go to college (if? maby? idk?) thats 18/college is basically homefree. but all the dreads ive seen so far dont look good for a long while so id probably like to get that over with sooner then later.

 

Wow, why lie? Moms aren't retarded. Especially ex-hippy moms. Be honest and forget the stupid ass [unbelievable] excuses. Just say something along the lines of 'Mom, this is what I really want to do..."

 

yeah, i didnt actually plan on using any of thoes crazy excuses. where do you come up with this stuff! lol. ill try the same with getting my ear pierced.
i thought about my lip too, idk. but this is about dreads. dreads. I wanna get dreads then a cool tam. i want a tam. but i need dreads first.

can you cut dreads? like i know it wouldnt be for a long time, but what if i dont want my dreads to be really long. ?lol

and, does your hair have to be the same legnth all around? cause right now my top is longer then the sides and back.

 

You can cut dreads although it's better to wait til they are maure.
And no, it doesn't have to be the same length around unless you really want it to.

 

with regards to the mom thing... my mom also hates dreads. ive had them twice now, and the other day i was like 'moooooom... you know how i luurve dreads....' and she just gave me this look that said 'dont even go there'

shes a big believer that itll harm my chances of getting a job. ever. which is bull, cause theres plenty of places thatll have me with dreads.. shops in town, music venues, maybe even the royal mail ..

she knows how much they mean to me, how much better i am as a person with them and how happy they make me (which is a huge deal in my life.. dreads are the best councilling & anti-depressant ever), but then she just says 'its your hair, do what you like', which is her way of ending the discussion - she hates them, i love them, but ultimately she knows she cant control me.. shes the one whos usually telling me to dye my hair blue and red and green and get my ears pierced, while my dad just sits back and goes DONT YOU FUCKING DARE etc etc, its a good, supportive household =/


i can fully understand why your mom dont want you gettin dreads, spesh at your age. she'll be thinkin things like what about your future.. college, employment etc etc. theres the age old "she just wants the best for you" stuff,, but then on the flipside, she could just really have some sort of hatred towards them..


id suggest reading more on here,, like the faq, other peoples threads, ask us more questions,, no one minds =]

took me a year to convice my mom,, and i dont think i did it fully anyway =] explain that they can be washed as often as needed, they dont smell, they dont offer a habitat to bugs, you dont use mud, you dont use any product, theyre natural, theyre clean,, blah blah.. all that stuff =]

i think im rambling.

 

I personally think listening to Stevie Wonder is the best councilling and anti-depressant ever.

 

change stevie wonder to new found glory or flogging molly, and yeah. =]

 

well thats a ton of stuff to reply to so i'll try to hit on everything
1st..your hemp keychain
mom, im noit supporting the use of hemp as a drug, but as the best industrial product out there, hemp as a fiber is stronger then any other fibers it virtualy lasts forever and grows in 120 days, as compared to trees that take hundreds of years
as a fuel it provides more bio mass then any other vegatation based fuel
as a food producty hemp seeds are higher in protein then anything else out there
fordx made a car out of hempo that wouldnt even dent when hit with a sledgehammer
they also made fiberboard houses out of hemp that could withstand a semi truck beingsmashed into it at full speed
hemp is an amazingly versatile fiber that can revolutionise manty industries, and is the only fiber thats 100% recyclable over and over..other fibers weaken and deteriorate each time its recycled requiring nerw fibers to be mixed with recycled, hemp howeverdoesntr have that limmitation and can be recycled over and over without weakening or requiring new fibers added to old.
so hell yes i supoort hemp use..its only common sence to
incidently, how can cops profile you for wearring hemp when the very flag they salute is made of hempo and so is the constitution theyre sworn to protect?


ok on to dreads
let them form naturaly over time
the gradual change may be less drastic to her. you can have the conversation at anytime when she starts to notice the change
explain to her the different methoids and why natural results in healthier hair
explain how hair must be clean to dread properly
talk to her about what it means to you and how your sure it wont impact your future plans
tell her ultimately its not her choiceto make, that you understand her concernes but its your life to live and she hasno say in it

i understand where your comming from, mine was like that too.. it always took both parents tackling me and holding me down to cut my hair
when i 1st peirced my ear my dad yanked it out while i was eatting so my ear was bleeding
afterr i got dreads it took many years before my monm stopped including something about cutting my hair into every single conversation

oh back to your other questions
bleaching
i wouldnt use bleach at all, it does alotta dammage
lemmon juice is gentler and works just like peroxide
dip theend of the dread in lemon juice and go sit in the sun awhile
it may take a few applications to get it how u want it
alternativelyt, skip the sun and use a blow dryer

it will lighten faster that way

back to mom
moms fear the negative responces that will in theyre minds reflect on theyre parenting skills
a comment like he looks like a homeless bum translates in her mind to how can she allow you to go out looking like you eat out of dumpsters
when you talk to her tell her like all decisions not everyone will be supportive and you may get a few negative comments from ignorant people, but tell her that the magority of comments will be possitive and respectful
the dayt my mom stopped talking about cutting mine constantly we were in a mall shyopping i think for xmass
a blue haired old lady, maybe in her 80's came up to me saying i had the most beautiful; hair shed ever seen and she wanted to touch it
when my mom sawthat a relatively conservative older woman not only accepted but admired it it changed her attitude
your moms less concerned with how u look then she is with how u make her look
you gotta show her that being supportive of your choices makes her look like a good mom more then forcing you to follow her wishes does

therre were probly more questions i didnt answer so if i missed anything just ask again

 

that was alot of helpful info ill be sure to use it when trying to convince her. nice. but, now thinking about it, is it hard to get a job when you have dreads? cause im around that age. i dont have a job yet but I probably will soon. I dont really want one untill summer though because im to busy with school work.

 

being a kid and getting a job could be hard, its going to be all about where you live. getting a career is different though. a career is going to be about how much better you work than the small competition. with a job every tom, dick and harry is going to be applying for that job from 14-60, if they get someone with the who is as promising as you, doesn't have locks and the employer is prejudice, then you probably wont be getting the job.

some places are more prejudice than others. in a career though it shouldn't be a major problem.

 

yeah thats what i was thinking. a career they are looking for who has more experience, a JOB they just want someone to work. i really dont know what people are like around here, especially towards dreads cause no one has them. but for some reason i dont think ppl would care...

 

Dude, even mcDonald's discriminte when choosing who to hire.
Just prepare yourself for the worse. If you get money save it up becuase you don't know how long you'll be unemployed,

 

haha thats horrible. mcdonalds usually has the worst service anyway. no wonder. they descriminate against the wrong people!!!!

i wouldnt want to work there though. maby subway though.

 

today i told my friend, and his friend who eat lunch with me, i want dreads and the one said that i would look weird and he would make fun of me everyday but idk my friend was like noooo why. idk. I dont know if I would look good with dreads either (well i think i would, MABY. its possible). especially with the clothes i have now. so id probably want new clothes. most of my clothes could be classified as ghetto/ skater. most of my clothes are black too... but yeah. I decided to show some pictures of me from around july. actually my hairs about the same legnth now. but yeah. me and dreads. ?

so yeah heres me over summer



and me and my friend who said "nooo why?" on the 4th of july



info? and i might be getting contacts maby. i had them once but they were to strong and hurt my eyes so i stopped wearing them, now my mom doesnt want to let me get them again. but idk. people say i look better with out glasses.

 

you get locks for yourself, not for other people.

its more than a status symbol, if you wear them like clothing you may find yourself disappointed.

 

how would that be like clothing? they are permanent. i want them as my hair. not so i look like a certain type of person.

-and obviously id be getting them for myself, since everyone around me is telling me not to but i still want them.

 

why change your style of dressing just cause you have dreads..

 

I'm dubbed as ghetto, skater, preppy with a little bit of 80's thrown in and I'll be damn if I threw my clothes away for hemp pants, tye dye, and those sandal shits.
Fuck that, don't conform to be yet another typical 'dreadhead.'
And the glasses are fine.
Get the dreads if your heart is begging you too. But don't let peer pressure transform you into a predicable granola munching hippie.

 

haha, i just think that it would look bad with the ghetto clothes. and im not ghetto anyway. im not planning on wearing tie dye either (maby sometimes) or sandals.screw that, i would never wear sandals. but less baggy clothes. its not that big of a difference, i just wanna get some smaller pants and shirts. like right now i like what i have on. its more skater like. i dont want to look like im trying to be black, wearing ghetto clothes and having dreads. ya know? i know id get alot of sh!t for that. but what ever.

as you said, my heart is telling me to get dreads lol, i want to go on the journey and bond with my hair. well it would be more then hair it would be my dreads.

anyway, today my mom just told me i need a hair cut and i was like. mmm no then i held my hand by my shoulder to show how long i want it. ahhh...