OH those LONG days of School PLUS Practice!

SPORTS MOMS ARE ON THE GO...... 

If your kids practice schedule is anything like ours there isn't exactly room to rest on many days.  We run like a well oiled machine.  However, I have to say... KUDOS to my kids because they have the schedule down pat!  I pick them up from school and already have their gym bags, snacks packed as well as water bottles and dinner (yes, dinner!).  We jump on the freeway and their homework gets done as we travel to the gym where they will stay for 3-4 hours of practice.  When we get there they get ready and off to gymnastics time.  You will notice there isn't exactly time for hairdos in this lovely afternoon schedule and a simple ponytail is not exactly going to hold up through 3-4 hours of running, turns, flips and twists!  We love their Coach Eddie, but I am sorry Coach Eddie, ponytails are simply not your talent!  Ha ha ha

So.....

These practice days I must send the girls to school with a hairdo that not only will hold up for school but for these crazy practice schedules as well.  This is much easier said than done.  It is also much easier with my eldest daughter who has thicker hair.  The youngest has that thin whispy hair that always seems to get away!    Below are two hairdos that I managed to do fairly quickly before school and they BOTH held up through a crazy day of school and gym.  Both girls returned home with their hair in tact and no Coach intervention was necessary :-)




I will show you the easiest one first as her hair is thick and I can pull the heck out of it and she barely feels it (a mom's dream).  This hairstyle works best with wet hair or use a water spray-bottle to style the hair.

*  Start by parting the hair pretty far to one side and pull the hair completely over to the other side. begin a regular french braid close to the ear area.

*  It holds better if you take smaller pieces, but if you are in a hurry you can take larger pieces over to the braid.

* As you get over to the middle remember to make the sections smaller and include the hair ONLY from the right side of the head (not from the middle as you will need this hair for the bottom of the braid to help it curve at the end.

* Then use that middle hair to pull into the braid towards the end to secure the curve of the braid.  By doing this secure "curve" you prevent the braid from swatting your child in the eye during sports or dance.
OPTION!  If your child has extra long hair you can make a bun at the end.  OR you can cheat like I did on a previous occasion where I took a brown scrunchie and wrapped the braid around it to make it look like a good side bun.

I found this pic and this is not my
previous "do" but this is what the
bun looks like when your child
has long hair OR you do my cheat!
 This also look amazing for gymnastics meets and/or dance recitals!

Now this next one took a bit longer, but my youngest daughter has hair that won't stay in a ponytail or even pigtails if I secure them with all the bands in the world!  These actually stayed ALL DAY!  It took me 10 minutes for the entire hairdo and was easier than it looks.  

You start by parting your child's hair in the middle and then again from ear to ear (much like a lower case "t" ) then secure each section with a clip or rubber band so it keeps the hair out of the way.

Take the top right section and begin a french braid with small sections (the small sections help the hair stay in place and keep those baby hairs).  Stop french braiding after 3" or so then continue with a regular braid (see photo).  Secure the braid with a easy-to-remove rubber band.

Then grab the lower right section and pull it into a high piggy tail.  I had my daughter hold the braid forward while I collected the hair into the piggy tail - helped keep it out of the way.  Put the braid into the "piggy" and firmly secure.

Release and undo the braid that is in the "piggy" and then braid the entire section all the way to the bottom.  Then loop it up and secure it into the initial rubber band (if the initial band is too tight you can just add a new rubber band.  Secure any loose hairs (especially from the bottom of the braid with bobby pins)

If you have cute ribbon and have one heck of a time tying it into your child's hair here is a trick I learned when the girls were babies:

Cut the ribbon and tie it on to the rubber band BEFORE placing it in your child's hair.  This will work with all rubber bands (even the small ones you use on babies).  This used to work so well with that "pebbles" hairdo we would do on the girls as babies!  Then I take clear or glitter nail polish and put a very light coat of polish on the tip of the bow so it doesn't frey.  The kids love the sparkle and usually moms have this more available than anti-frey glue from craft stores!  Then simply put the rubberband in your child's hair.  Wa-la!