More confusion

Hi L. and anyone else.

I'm Caucasian. My grandson got together with Tasha who is maybe 1/4 Afro -American and the rest Heinz 57 just like the rest of us. She was adopted by a black middle class family. Her mother is a retired teacher (Master's degree) and her dad drove for the same company until he retired a few years ago. They're a couple of years older than I and both in poor health. I don't know what that makes the girls. 1/8? Doesn't matter. Rochelle is a clone of her mother, so much so that when I see them from the back or from across the street, I'm not sure for a minute which one I'm looking at. Elcie is the image of her dad and Rebecca falls somewhere in between.

They're good people and they adore the girls. We do have our differences. Their life is much more structured and disciplined than mine and it took them a while to get used to me. Now we're friends who agree to disagree occasionally. Tasha grew up with plastic covers on the furniture. That's not me. Her mother worried because I put babies on blankies on the floor. I said they can't fall off the floor. We always work it out and she's mellowed a lot as the girls grew older.
I know there's a theory that black children should be raised by black families. We didn't happen to have one handy. Foster care was not an option. I do the best I can and having their mother around helps. If she remains as a sort of loving big sister named mommy, it's still better than an absent parent. She knows the practical stuff; dealing with hair, skin problems, etc. when I don't have a clue. I kept them in short curls for a long time because I didn't know how to do their hair. I can't even do my own which is why I keep it cropped.

We finally let it grow out, my son straightened all of them, (their idea, not mine) and it's working somewhat. They have volunteers including their mom to do the styling. I loved the natural look; they wanted to look like everyone else. Rochelle thought she looked like a boy. I caved - it's their hair.

Don't know how I got started on hair. I was saying the other day that it's the little things that are harder; I can usually handle the big ones.

Elcie's feeling better - still a little feverish and achy but her cold medicine will knock it out. The two little girls are being baptized tomorrow - a little long in the tooth for the Methodist tradition of infant baptism but I wanted the decision to be theirs. They're looking forward to it even though I'm not sure if they have any idea what's happening.

Saturday brunch done - girls outside except for Elcie and I put away three days worth of clean laundry. I wash every day but I'm not nearly so eager to put it away. Three days is a bunch with these three.

Later - I have to go be useful again.