No, no, no!
When I say they look like an unmade bed, I’m talking about young fellows who very literally still have ther hair smooshed from the way they slept on it! These kids poured themselves into whatever slacks and shirts their mom had laid out for them, and their parents did not let them wear “devil-may-care” clothing! Making a fashion statement really is sometimes the last thing on a person’s mind. It really does happen.grin Well, this thread has brought up the subject of non-conformity - I confess. I’m a huge non-conformist - I’m well over 21 and still don’t have my ears pierced.
(I am such an evil mom - LOL!)You are most welcome!
That’s great advice for us with our future daughters. Thanks
Such a contention was nowhere present in my posts, and you are putting words into my mouth.
That’s a quite a passive aggressive swipe at parents that allow their children to dye their hair even if it comes to them not being able to be involved in a liturgical ministry. I’d rather have my child weigh the pros and cons and decide for themselves. Perhaps they don’t feel called to a liturgical ministry, its not the end of the world if they choose to dye their hair for a summer and seek out another way to serve the community and their parish. They might even be at a parish where it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
I train altar servers. Wildly-colored hair does not meet the dress code, but it is not because someone with bright hair is unworthy as a person, and we go out of our way to point that out. We point out that while bright colors, bold prints, and “bling” on clothing, socks, shoes, hair color, and nail polish might look perfectly fine when put together for an ensemble for normal Sunday attire, it looks silly when paired with the austerity of a white alb. That is all we need–to take a bunch of good Catholic kids and make them into the parish fashion police!!
I don’t think someone who takes into consideration the compaints of someone with nothing better to do than pick on the hair color of someone else is “good” in any position of authority. I think that would make them somewhat of a coward. Fortunately, most women who have been in a parish 40 years have more sense than that and have probably raised children themselves. Even if they complain amongst themselves, they probably aren’t going to bother the pastor with something so trivial.
Those all sound like reasonable solutions to actual problems to me. I’ve asked a mohawk-wearing boy to wear it flat for a concert so we can see the face of the person behind him.I train altar servers. Wildly-colored hair does not meet the dress code, but it is not because someone with bright hair is unworthy as a person, and we go out of our way to point that out. We point out that while bright colors, bold prints, and “bling” on clothing, socks, shoes, hair color, and nail polish might look perfectly fine when put together for an ensemble for normal Sunday attire, it looks silly when paired with the austerity of a white alb. That is all we need–to take a bunch of good Catholic kids and make them into the parish fashion police!!
More importantly, though, we insist that our altar servers serve because they want to, not because their parents want to make them. A worthy liturgical ministry cannot be compelled. We also point out that fashion choices that would be distracting with an alb are nevertheless perfectly fine in the many other ways a young person can positively contribute to the parish. IOW, the dress code only has to do with avoiding a distracting look at the altar. It is not a sin, not even a venial sin, to choose bright fashions or an odd hair cut, and it doesn’t make a person unworthy to do the work of a Christian! Altar serving is one among many ways that a young Catholic can serve his or her parish. (Ideally, it is not the only one for any of them.)
We do have one server who has subtle hints of red on her black hair, and she looks fine. As I pointed out, if a female server wanted to color her hair in a color that really was at odds with her alb, she could wear a snood while serving, and it would not be a problem. (I would not even require that the snood cover all of the color, only that the intention to take on a toned-down look for the sake of serving the Mass was made clear.) It is the combination of the hair with the alb within the context of serving inconspicuously yet near the center of attention that is the issue, not the hair itself. All servers with long hair have to contain it, not because we hate long hair, but because it is distracting for those who cannot help seeing the servers to wonder if a server is going to get too close to a candle and light his or her hair on fire. For that reason, even hair that is probably not much of a fire danger must be contained if it is long enough to appear to be one.
You’re right, though: if that is not pointed out, kids could easily conclude that a person’s baptismal dignity changes with their fashion choices. That is not true.
They decided on kool aid. They used super hot water to mix and dye…then didn’t wash their hair for 24 hours+ after coloring. The red is by far the most pronounced. The blue is ok too, but the green was very faint.
Sounds like a successful adventure and I’m sure it’ll become a treasured memory
Yes, the straightener will fade the color quicker. Heat is bad for all hair color techniques. Kool-Aid does fade pretty quickly. I think my girls Kool-Aid dyed hair was pretty much back to normal within a couple weeks of daily washing.
You obviously lived a lot closer to a main road when you were 13 than I did!!My Dad flipped out when I did this at 13. So I started wearing heavy makeup and tube tops to make a point. Poor Dad.
Gotta watch out on this. Years ago my youngest wanted to do the same. Red was the school color and we said “go for it”. His older brothers girlfriend told him she used kool-aid to do her’s.What she didn’t tell him was that he had to mix it with water first so a fine red powder ende up ALL OVER the bathroom. Being a responsible kid, he thought he should wipe it up with a wet rag before Mom found out. There were red spots in our bathroom for years, til we gutted it during remodeling. He’s in his thirties now and you can bet we’ll never let that story die. I see Cradle Journey had a similar experiance
