When I learn I am pregnant with a girl, I feel almost giddy at the thought of teaching her what no one taught me about Black hair:
1. Never take a brush to it.
2. Don’t shampoo too often.
3. Condition condition condition.
4. Wet it, and rake through it with fingers or a wide-toothed comb.
5. Use leave-in conditioner to bring out smooth ringlets.
6. Once set, don’t you dare touch it until it dries.
I will not let you look like a tumbleweed.
I will not let your hair pouf in humid air.
I will not give you a hairstyle high school boys will tease.
I will buy every single product you need.
It will be my job—my joy—to help you achieve the self-acceptance that eluded me until midlife.
I vow to my unborn daughter: Baby, your mother will get it right.