Afro Caribbean mums??

[rasgal]

are there any afro caribbean mums out there? i originate from Barbados and am due to have my 1st child in march.

just wanted afro caribbean veiws on childrens
names: traditional african vs british
hair: natural vs chemically treated
tradition: kwanzaa vs christmas
veiws on teaching older kids about black history and heritage and any other issues that affect black mums...

My parents were both originally from Barbados,i was born here my 3 all have i suppose british names ,i have a shaved head,and my oldest dd who is 12 wants to have her hair corkscrew permed but we have said not till 13/14 and once we find a hair dresser we can trust,i personally understand chemicaly treated hair is a lot easier to handle but i just think of the long term damage,my husband is white and we make a strong effort to give them as much positive information about their black heritage.
Good luck with the birth

i have 4 boys. having given them english first names (biblical) and african middle names. I think its nice to have a mixture. im from ghana, husband is from nigeria and we are christians so their names reflect all three. if i had a girl i would never put extensions or chemicals in her hair until she was a teenager. there is no need and natural hair looks lovely.many of my friends have girls and their hair looks lovely natural, they normally plait it when they are sleeping. also gives longterm problems. even texturisers are strong. all kids should know about black history and you need to find out what your local council does in schools, libraries etc.
as christians we celebrate christmas.
good luck! dont worry

i remember my parents said i had to wait til i was a teen before relaxing my hair.

on my 13th birthday i was straight down to the hairdressers to get that slick look and a couple months later it had all broke off!!now i am happily loc'd and loving it.

sunshine, was it hard to pick your childrens african names. my babys father is from ivory coast so an african name is my preference but its so hard to choose....

Rasgal, why not go for an international sounding name such as Xavier or Lucien (boy) or Victoria or Vivienne for a girl? I know people from other countries in Africa with those names so they would fit in in both continents.

FWIW, my DS1 has an African first name and an English middle name and DS2 has an English first name and African middle name.

Go for whatever name you like, but agree with Tryharder that there are many beautiful cross cultural names.
I'm white British and DH is North African. Our DS has a African name and people here often go 'what was his name?' Our DD has a name thats used in both cultures.