Stubborn and quick tempered are words which vividly describe my red headed “Ruby”. I’m not a red head and neither is my husband, so (besides the fact that all the girls in my family are red heads) where did this gene come from and why….OH WHY is my 3 year old a fiery red head?
Whilst we love every precious lock of red curly hair on our daughters head, we quickly discovered sayings such as “Red hair is more then a colour its a lifestyle change” are 100% dead on. A great example of this would be my husbands change in routine prior to arriving home. He must ring her to let her know that he is on the bridge (which is a measly 2 minutes from home). If this phone call is not made we can kiss our precious evenings good bye. Don’t even get me started on when we hide in the wrong hiding spot or come out to early. All those stories aside we were quickly informed within minutes of her joyous arrival that there are 3 versions of the red head gene “MCR1″
Simply put – our child is a red head because my husband and myself are both parental carriers of the red head gene, and no…… no it wasn’t because of all the red heads scattered throughout my family (did I mention my mum and sister are both red heads). Somewhere generations ago my husband had red headed relatives who so generously passed the gene down the line to him.
If like me you have a beautiful delicate red head one minute and a raging bull the next, you can totally appreciate the time and patients needed to raise these little people/ cannon balls. Over the last 3 and a half years of raising Ruby red I have read an endless number of articles trying to discover why being a red head makes one so fiery and all I seem to stumble upon is the endless debate over nature vs nurture. I have managed to explain this relationship in 6 simple words……….”She gets it from her father!”.
Raising a red headed child also has many draw-cards, some positive and some negative. Whilst it is great receiving compliments on the deliciousness of my daughters hair, is it really necessary to stop and interrogate me on the origins of her redness and curly whirls, whilst comparing to my blonde straight as a tack do. I mean really….. yes we know she is gorgeous but those 20 questions……….are they really necessary. “Where does she get her red hair from?”, “Does her father have red hair?”, “Do you know red heads are going extinct?”.For those of you who didn’t already know those answers, her hair obviously comes from her genetic make up from her parents…….no her father doesn’t have red hair……although luckily (thanks for assuming) she does have a father in her life and NO THEY ARE NOT GOING EXTINCT!!. When she was about 1 her hair was a fiery red and i remember thinking at one stage, Ï’m going to put a sign on her pram saying “Yes my hair is red, yes we are the parents, please don’t touch me”. Whilst the fascination quickly dwindled away as the fiery colour faded to a more subtle tone of red, its still very common for people to feel the urge to touch and take picture of my daughter when out and about. I mean honestly I would cry to if a stranger felt the instant urge to reach out and slide their fingers through my hair, so although you may be the nicest person in the world, my daughter does not know you, therefore she is crying because you are touching her.
Although there has been many frustrating moments throughout the last 3 and half years, the passion my “Ruby” exudes is phenomenal. I’m not only talking about her passion and love of wearing every high heel in the house and coming out every 5 minutes in a different dress (every second one being mine). Her love for life and her fiery soul can make any heart melt. With hair as bright as the sun and eyes as deep as the sea her beautiful nature is only compromised by a feisty streak growing from her precious carrot top..
So next time you see a mother out with a gorgeous littlie, with red glowing locks, who has thrown themselves on the floor and is having an almighty tantrum (Yes that mother may very well be me), give her a huge smile, pat on the back or thumbs up……….as she is doing her absolute best!! Although my child may be “a bat out of hell” at times like Meat Loaf had warned, “Where ever she goes, there is always going to be some light”
Big Love & Enjoy xoxo
(P.S. I should really mention that through all the tantys and fireworks i’m pretty sure raising a red headed child is much like raising any other child! My red headed sister recently sent me this video 11 Facts about Redheads your friends with red hair wont tell you……..check it out, these facts are pretty awesome!! )
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