Blame it on this guy. He’s the one who started the Ginger worship. Even though my mom and older brother had beautiful auburn hair, it wasn’t until my first son was born that I really became aware of the fascination that red hair elicits. And like it or not, my son’s gorgeous red hair has become his trademark.
When he was a child, I don’t remember an outing that his hair didn’t get commented on or pointed at or smiled upon. When he was two, his father and I took a trip to Mexico. As we walked down the street, I began noticing the stares, points, whispers and comments. A block later, I picked him up. People were starting to crowd us and it made me very uncomfortable. I managed to hear a word I recognized, “rojo.”
“Oh, Jeez, it’s the hair!” I thought. A few minutes later, a woman reached out and touched his hair. I clutched my son tighter. She smiled and told me in broken English, “Beautiful. Red. Good luck to touch!” On another block, a woman crossed the street to touch his head.
When my son was a few years old, I heard that Princess Di had had a baby boy. Reports were that Prince Charles looked at little Prince Harry and said disappointedly, “Oh. He has ginger hair.” I’ve had no respect for Prince Charles since then. What a loser.
And look at his gorgeous young son now. Yeah… ginger-licious! So what is it with the British looking down on red heads, anyway? They have had great Kings, Queens and Prime Ministers with red hair. Anyone reading this who has some insight on the issue, I’d love to hear it.
But I digress. My ginger son and his wife have recently had their first baby – a boy. This blog has grown from that experience. My daughter-in-law, Gillian, and I would talk about whether his chances were good for being a red head, wouldn’t it be cool to have a shirt that said …, or we’d discuss how I wish I’d had the organic/natural choices she had when I had my baby. His sensitive, freckled skin would have appreciated the products that are out there now.
There aren’t many resources for those of us who have gingers. And sometimes red heads are different. They do usually have paler, more sensitive skin and they do have issues with name calling and feeling “different.”
We truly hope this blog will help you. Or, if nothing else – enlighten and amuse you.
Oh, here’s my son now with his own ginger baby. (Well… the Jury’s still out. What hair he has looks red in the sun. We can only hope.)
