Strollerderby

Ben Affleck Suffers Same Fate As Dads of Daughters Everywhere

Posted by JeanneSager

Jennifer Garner says she can always tell when husband Ben Affleck was left to his own devices with daughter Violet's hair. It comes out looking like a rat's nest.

Hey dads, sound familiar?

“You can always tell when he has been at it, just two random barrettes hanging in there. It’s so sweet," Garner told InStyle. 

She could have been talking about my husband. He was over the moon when I gave birth to a little girl (which - despite us not finding out prior to delivery - he just "knew" was going to happen), but when she started sprouting enough hair to require clippies and ponytail holders, he was lost. 

"It doesn't ever do what I want it to do," he tells me. "I just don't have the patience for it." This coming from a guy who once had hair past his shoulders. But his was super fine, super straight hair, hair that never needed to be brushed out with no more tangles spray after a night of rolling around on a crib mattress, hair that never needed to be secured in two little braids hanging down his back. 

Some guys get hair and are perfectly adept at handling their daughter's locks. More are like my husband - facing a major learning curve after years of just not caring what their head looks like (because after years of long hair, his is now shaved in a Marine-like buzz - he does nothing more than shampoo daily). In our house it's particularly funny because it's the bald mother who has been showing Dad the ropes, teaching him about where on the head to place a ponytail (Not too high, this isn't the eighties. Not too low - she isn't an aging hippie) and how to brush out tangles without yanking on the scalp. 

I'll give credit where credit is due. He tries. If he's the parent getting her ready for the day, her hair is at least brushed, albeit with a clip stuck at a random angle - kind of like Violet Affleck's.

Dads, did you jump over the curve after your daughters were born or do you turn out girls who sport the ragamuffin look in the morning?

Image: TheInsider

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Comments

 

Treespeed said:

My daughter won't keep ponytails or clips in her hair so my wife lost out on her battle for her to have long hair. Whenever she and I have a solo dad's day I just take her to get her hair done in a cute little bob. That way it's out of her eyes and she doesn't look too much like a ragamuffin.

April 20, 2009 2:45 PM
 

JeanneSager said:

Ha! Thanks Treespeed - you might have just given my husband an idea.

April 20, 2009 2:47 PM
 

khickman760 said:

Oddly enough its my husband who can get my daughter's hair in to pigtails.  I am completely inept at anything other than combing her hair.  That's why I get her hair bobbed- and it drives him crazy- he wants his little girl to have long hair.  But I told him if he wants her to have long hair, then he can chase her around the house untangling her hair every morning.

April 20, 2009 4:12 PM
 

elohveeee12 said:

my daughter is 18 months and she still doesn't have to worry about hairstyles. She worries more about hats (which she has dozens of), her hair is not long enough for even a little clip, or pony. I actually gave her a faux hawk the other day, and it as just barely long enough for that. So I think her dad has a while to worry about doing her hair... Which is good because it gives him time to work on diaper changing, which he is horrible at.

April 20, 2009 4:19 PM

About JeanneSager

Jeanne Sager is a writer who lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, a dog and too many cats. She refuses to believe motherhood comes with pumpkin appliqued sweaters, and she';s not ready to apologize for having only one child. She writes about raising her kid in her own hometown and the mom stuff she's not embarrassed to own at her blog, Inside Out (http://jeannesager.blogspot.com), she's contributing editor of Grand Magazine, and she's a regular essayist here on Babble

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