Ok, so it’s not a traditional Thanksgiving preparation, maybe, but I was more concerned about hair today than turkey.

Now, if my oldest daughter hadn’t taken over turkey preparation a few years ago, I’m sure turkey would be on my radar. But she’s freed me up to worry about *important* issues–like the family picture.

We really like to do up Thanksgiving morning, with dressing up, remembering the first Thanksgiving with readings, five kernels of corn, a hymn, and baked French toast.

And after all the ceremony, I like to take pictures.

I had wanted Yanni to get her hair done yesterday, but she had swimming until evening, so I got mine done. I promised the little girls we would wash and straighten and curl their hair for the event. Their new clothes arrived today, just in time, and they squealed with delight at the idea of a makeover.

But we had a pesky thing called school to do during the day, followed by ballet and Bible study, and the evening commute. .. so we weren’t washing hair until after dinner. And, let me tell you, hair takes time. Especially fancy hair.

So I had to cut my losses and promise to get up early. Not that I wouldn’t need to get up early and cook, but now I need to jump out in front of cooking with beautification.

If you have more than a couple heads to style, break down your task as much as you can. Decide whose hair will dry quicker and wash their hair first. First I washed each girl’s hair separately. Then I divided each girl’s hair into sections and made knots out of the wet hair. By the time I finished washing the second girl’s hair, the first girl’s hair was almost dry. By the time I finished sectioning off the first girl’s hair, the second girl’s hair was not so wet. But her hair is thick, so it still had a ways to go before it would have air dried.

Then I used the blow dryer on each girl, braiding or twisting each section after it was dry. When I finished drying the second girl’s hair, I told her I would get up early and press her hair. The first girl has softer hair, and I flat-ironed it tonight. Then I rolled it up in five long curlers and put a pair of old tights over the whole thing. The other girl went to bed with tights over her braids.

Another way we redeemed the time was in sharing the task. My 9 year old daughter braided her baby sister’s hair while I worked with her other sister’s hair. All three girls will be ready for more beauty in the morning.

I will post pictures as soon as they’re available.