sandbox and braids

[Anonymous]

Daughter is 3 years old. Just got box braids put in her hair. Took 4.5 hours, $70. I asked teachers to not allow her or other kids to pour sand over her head while playing in the sandbox. Came to pick her up and it looks like a bucket of sand was poured all over her new braids. Am I out of line for being mad about this and talking to the Director? This is a nightmare to try to get out and she just had them installed. I know kids will be kids, but I'm so annoyed. How would you suggest handling this?

[Anonymous]

I would mention it. Is none of the staff Black? I would think they would understand and try to keep any eye out. When my DD was in preschool, the sandbox was removed because a child had a cornea scratched.

[Anonymous]

Regardless of how much time or money you spent on your daughter's hair, the real issue is sand going in the eyes. Kids should not be allowed to throw sand at anyone, nor be allowed to lift sand over shoulder-height.

Talk to them about it coming from a "sand--in-eyes" angle and mention how that could damage a cornea. Don't bother talking about your kid's hair.

[Anonymous]

Not related, but only $70 for 4.5 hours??? That seems so low. I pay that for a one hour haircut!

[Anonymous]

Can you try the compressed air used to clean a keyboard to remove some sand?

[Anonymous]

White pre-school teacher here. I’m so sorry this happened. I would get more info. No one should be dumping sand on someone’s head, but I would never promise I could prevent it. Three year olds are so unpredictable and just like hitting or biting, it happens sometimes. I would have gone out of my way to keep her engaged outside of the sandbox (of course I wouldn’t punish her by telling her she couldn’t go in it).

[Anonymous]

It’s possible she got sand in her own hair (lying down in it, throwing it herself). How can you be certain someone dumped it on her head? My son frequently comes home with sand ALL
OVER (including his hair) even when he is the only one playing in the sandbox.

Maybe tell her she can’t play in it, or find a lower-maintenance hairstyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not related, but only $70 for 4.5 hours??? That seems so low. I pay that for a one hour haircut!

Then you need to find another place to get a hair cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daughter is 3 years old. Just got box braids put in her hair. Took 4.5 hours, $70. I asked teachers to not allow her or other kids to pour sand over her head while playing in the sandbox. Came to pick her up and it looks like a bucket of sand was poured all over her new braids. Am I out of line for being mad about this and talking to the Director? This is a nightmare to try to get out and she just had them installed. I know kids will be kids, but I'm so annoyed. How would you suggest handling this?

I would say your daughter is too young or in an environment where a $70 hair cut cannot be kept from being messed up. She is three years old for crying out loud. If you don’t want this possibility, get the box braids and get a nanny. Then you will have one on one and will keep her hair as nice as possible. A preschool teacher watching 10 kids herself can’t possibly be everywhere at once. It takes 2 sec for a child to put sand in another child’s hair. Things happen during play. I assume it’s been addressed with the children but may happen again. Black child or white child makes no difference. A $70 hair do for a three year old is difficult to maintain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s possible she got sand in her own hair (lying down in it, throwing it herself). How can you be certain someone dumped it on her head? My son frequently comes home with sand ALL
OVER (including his hair) even when he is the only one playing in the sandbox.

Maybe tell her she can’t play in it, or find a lower-maintenance hairstyle.

+1 unless she told you someone dumped sand on her hair, I’d assume she did it herself. My 4 year old still lies down and wiggles in sand, dirt, snow, you name it. Older kid used to do that too. It is a pain to get out (though not anywhere of the level you’re describing) and I try to stop her if I see it. Of course at preschool I don’t see it. Yesterday she came home with leaves, twigs, and who knows what else in her hair. She said she played hide and seek in a bush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Daughter is 3 years old. Just got box braids put in her hair. Took 4.5 hours, $70. I asked teachers to not allow her or other kids to pour sand over her head while playing in the sandbox. Came to pick her up and it looks like a bucket of sand was poured all over her new braids. Am I out of line for being mad about this and talking to the Director? This is a nightmare to try to get out and she just had them installed. I know kids will be kids, but I'm so annoyed. How would you suggest handling this?

I would say your daughter is too young or in an environment where a $70 hair cut cannot be kept from being messed up. She is three years old for crying out loud. If you don’t want this possibility, get the box braids and get a nanny. Then you will have one on one and will keep her hair as nice as possible. A preschool teacher watching 10 kids herself can’t possibly be everywhere at once. It takes 2 sec for a child to put sand in another child’s hair. Things happen during play. I assume it’s been addressed with the children but may happen again. Black child or white child makes no difference. A $70 hair do for a three year old is difficult to maintain.

This not an uncommon hairstyle for Black preschoolers. Type 4a hair care isn’t a $10 trim at the strip mall. Because it’s a bit more fragile than less textured hair, box braids are an appropriate protective style. Personally, I might have gone for fewer braids to reduce the styling tone, but the price would not necessarily be much lower. I get goddess braids and they are $10 per braid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would mention it. Is none of the staff Black? I would think they would understand and try to keep any eye out. When my DD was in preschool, the sandbox was removed because a child had a cornea scratched.

OP here. So I love this preschool but a major issue is that there is like no diversity among the teachers (all white) and even the kids! So there may be a lack of understanding, which I tried to mitigate by talking to her teachers ahead of time regarding length of time to install braids, how it's a nightmare to get a ton of sand in them etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of how much time or money you spent on your daughter's hair, the real issue is sand going in the eyes. Kids should not be allowed to throw sand at anyone, nor be allowed to lift sand over shoulder-height.

Talk to them about it coming from a "sand--in-eyes" angle and mention how that could damage a cornea. Don't bother talking about your kid's hair.

Ok, that is helpful. I will approach it from this angle.

[Anonymous]

She's 3. She can not reliably stay out of the sand herself. My 3 year olds would ABSOLUTLY lay down and cover their own heads in sand.

Our preschool/daycare didn't have a sand box, but there was LOTS of mulch stuck to everything.

[Anonymous]

FWIW- which is possibly not much- I would get so infuriated when my daughter got stuff like that in her hair when it was braided. Then one time she got a huge amount of sand in her hair when it was not braided. Oh my- getting it out braided was so much easier then getting it out when it wasn't braided. You can wash the hair with the braids in- and the sand is easier to see and brush out.
Looking back, I just needed more help than I realized in caring for her hair, and how to wash it etc.