Braid Maidens helps dads share the school-morning routine

Knowing how to plait a child’s hair can make the school run easier to share. In St Albans, Braid Maidens teaches parents the skills, giving fathers another way to care for their children.

Founder Annis Waugh’s first class specifically for dads sold out, the BBC reported in April 2022. The session began with ponytails and hair bands before moving on to plaits. Learning together meant beginners could start from the same point.

Father-of-four John Hardern told the BBC that his daughters were comfortable with either parent doing their hair: “it really doesn’t matter to them which parent is doing it.”

Those accounts show practical benefits for individual families, rather than proving a wider change in how parents divide childcare.

The teaching continues: Braid Maidens now advertises classes in St Albans and London, private sessions and online lessons for people further away. Its public classes take up to ten learners.

A small, learnable skill can become part of everyday care — and something a parent and child share.

Sources

• BBC News — St Albans: The dads learning to plait their daughters’ hair
• Braid Maidens — Learn to braid