MILWAUKEE — The bond between dads and daughters can be incredibly strong. A salon in Milwaukee found a way to make it even stronger.
When it comes to learning how to do his daughter’s hair, Dave Nelsen is starting with the basics – simple hair brushing.
His daughter, Mena, is not afraid to give feedback or tell her dad what she wants.
“Mena came home and told me about it and told me that we will be taking this class together,” Dave says.
The class is at Taylor & Burton Salon. Owner Al Oldham says a client actually asked him for advice for his own daughter’s hair.
“And then I thought, ‘there’s got to be other dads out there who need something like this,’” Al says. “So I just made up a quick flyer and put the word out and the class filled up.”
Al says, for most dads, ponytails, braids, and bows are completely new skills. Dave admits he hadn’t really brushed Mena’s hair since she was a baby.
“Once it got longer and she became aware of styles and things like that, that’s kind of when I backed off, because I don’t have any experience in the last 20 years with hair,” Dave says, pointing to his own bald head.
“I’m not expecting them to leave here hairstylists, I just want them to leave here with a comfort level that allows them to do something that they are maybe not used to,” Al says.
Dave is starting to figure things out – he’s been practicing a three-strand braid.
“If I had three hands, this would be so much easier,” he laughs.
But he says new hair tricks aren’t the best thing to come out of the class.
“For two hours, she sat in the chair and I practiced on her hair and for two hours I paid attention to just her,” Dave says. “No phone, no work, no siblings, no other family members. Two hours of daddy daughter time.”
“It was really fun,” Mena says. “That never happened in a long, long, long time.”
Since the class ended, there’s still plenty of opportunity for daddy-daughter time as Dave and Mena practice their new skills – including a bow made completely of Mena’s hair.
And a little bit of practice makes makes it totally worth it for Mena’s reaction:
“Ooh, pretty!”
