French Plaits

When I was little I used to shamelessly make my poor mama (or god mother, or anyone else who could) plait my hair so I looked like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. In fact, so obsessed was I with said hairstyle I learnt pretty quick to do it myself. I was so good at french plaits that by the time I went to Primary School I used to have queues of girls waiting for me to braid their hair before any school swimming/ gymnastics/ play or any event. I used to endlessly plait my poor pony's mane and tail, I religiously went to Pony Club and gymkhanas for this reason alone. However by the time I turned fourteen, I noticed boys and started focusing more on Take That, the obsession with plaits ended. It just wasn't cool anymore, and my skills have stayed hidden away for fifteen years.

That is until Honey's hair became long enough for me to french plait it. Yay hooray, my inner Dorothy returned and now I can plait till my heart's content. Although I do have to bribe Honey to stay still long enough for me to actually brush her hair let alone plait it, thank goodness for Tangle Teezers.

So anyway, here she is plaited up, and looking pretty as a picture (actually the above french plait has been slept in, worn for a whole day and had a hat on it, hence the mess). In defence of my obsession they are in fact incredibly practical, when wearing bunches or a ponytail her hair falls out all over the place and her hair resembles a birds nest within the hour, but with the wondrous french plait she stays relatively neat the whole day, if you ignore the crumbs on her face and jam smeared up her cheek that is.

WARNING: Attempting a french plait on a toddler must be done with great caution, make sure neither you or they are tired or hungry and they have Mr. Tumble or some chocolate buttons for distraction, or else you will never be able to make it look anything like a plait and chasing round a screaming toddler whilst pulling their hair any which way is not the most relaxing way to start the day.