Bapatla diary 16

Saturday morning as soon as breakfast was finished, we donned our headscarves (to try and keep lice from catching a ride on our heads), got buckets of water, cups, and lice shampoo, and got started. With that first haircut I had done a couple of days before, we realized that we would be facing a big lice problem and would need to shampoo all the children's hair with lice shampoo.

We started with the little girls. See those smiles. Those little ones were having such a good time getting their hair scrubbed. Made me wonder if they'd ever really had their hair washed like that - a good massaging scrub with lots of water and lather. The shampoo had to stay on their hair for 5 minutes to kill lice. Then a good rinse and on to the chairs on the porch.

Grace and I washing Casalia's and Manassa's hair

Grace's first "customer"

and mine, finished. Oh, so cute!

We had an assortment of hair bows, so each little girl got one after her haircut. Then they wanted to pose with Babu Uncle. They are sweet, sweet, sweet.

We washed the boys' hair, too, and then had them line up on the steps.

*photo by Kandyce

We trimmed the boys' hair shorter first. Here I am trimming John Wesley's hair - yep, that's really his name.

And then Jonathan buzzed them with the clippers.

Some of the boys were afraid of the clippers at first, but Jonathan assured them it wouldn't hurt. Williams looks pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.

We cut a LOT of hair...

stylist Kathy

and me...

and barber Coty. Kandyce, too, though somehow I didn't get a picture of her in action. Sorry, K!

And then there was braiding to do. I loved that.

The hair chopping started at 9 and ended around 4:30. After we were all done, we washed each other's hair with lice shampoo as a precaution. Oh, boy, didn't it feel good to lie back on the step and feel Kathy's strong hands lathering, scrubbing, massaging. I opened my eyes and looked up and saw these smiling faces peering down.

And this was the sweetest thing I saw all day. Little Adams gently pouring water over Grace's head to rinse her hair. Love flowed as locks were laved.