After a week of vitriol over the impeachment hearings, it’s nice to have some positive news. Tieya Riggins, owner of Natruelly Mee Studios, an Ohio beauty salon, has been offering free classes to fathers who wish to style their daughters’ hair. The classes have garnered quite a bit of attention on social media. Even NFL player Matthew Cherry has attended some of the classes with his daughter. 

But these classes aren’t only providing fathers with the skills they need to help their significant others with their daughters’ hair. It is also creating a profound bonding experience for these men and their children.

Riggins starts fathers out with easier hairstyles like pony tails and buns. When they master these skills, they move on to braids, which are typically more challenging. Last year, she told WTAP that the classes provide a bonding experience between fathers and their daughters. 

“Some of them are like oh this is exciting and then some will point to me and say no dad I want her to do my hair they get a little nervous but then as they go on throughout the class it builds the confidence with the kid and the dad so it builds that bond together between them.”

But it’s not only the dads who are taking Riggins’ classes that are learning to do their daughters’ hair. It has become something of a social media phenomenon, especially on Instagram. The hashtag #DadsDoHairToo has become quite popular, with scores of men posting pictures and videos showing them styling their children’s hair. 

Here are some examples:

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This Generation of Black Dads are Active in All Aspects. Don’t Act Like We Didn’t Tell Ya 🙌🏿 #STRONGBLACKFATHERS . . . . . #Blackfathersmatter #Blackfathers #BlackDads #Blackmen #Blacklove #Blackexcellence #Dads #DontforgetDads #Daddyduties #Prouddad #Dadlife #DadGoals #Daddysgirl #Daddyslittlegirl #dadsanddaughters #RaisingQueens #dadsdohairtoo

A post shared by Strong Black Fathers (@strongblackfathers) on Jul 4, 2019 at 8:46am PDT

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This week most kids are either back or heading back to school & with it comes the reinstatement of the daily hair routine. Being a father of twins who have hair curlier than wet wool & 2 elder girls who are locked in an unofficial world record race for the longest & knottiest hair without becoming dreadlocks, I feel like I have some experience in this area. I’ve dealt with my fair share of hair pulling induced breakdowns, hairbands that vanish after a single use, knots that seasoned sailors wouldn’t be able to handle & recieved many a ‘nit outbreak’ letter from school, so as a semi professional parent of girls, @bootsUK have asked me to provide some tips on how we get prepared for the ‘back to school’ mayhem. What games, tips & tricks to do you have when it comes to hair related traumas in your household? #backtoschool #hairbandblaclhole #wheresthesummergone #makeitfun  #hairhairandmorehair #hairgoals #FatherofDaughters #dadlife #ad #dadsdohairtoo #instadad #dadlife #fod

A post shared by Simon, also known as FOD (@father_of_daughters) on Aug 30, 2017 at 11:36pm PDT

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@_jrrivera Drop a “🖤” if you agree. Daughter deserve to have their first love and measurements of a man come in the form of the man the helped create them. I can honestly saying I’m becoming a better man daily because I want to be ok with my daughter ending up with a man like me… . #RespectMyHair 💕 #dadsdohairtoo #nationaldaughtersday #dadswithdaughters @acehood “Undefeated” 🎶 🔥

A post shared by 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫 Ⓡ (@respectmyhair) on Oct 24, 2019 at 10:26pm PDT

If you have spent any time on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, you have undoubtedly seen how ugly things have become — especially when it concerns politics. News reporting has always fixated on negative stories, but over the past few years, it seems their reportage has become even more heated, and at times, bleak. If our only view of the world came from social media it would be rather depressing, wouldn’t it? 

But stories such as these remind us of what’s important. These fathers might have sharp disagreements with other Americans on the issues, but one thing we all have in common is a desire to bond with and support our families and friends. Perhaps if we look at areas of commonality, rather than only disagreements, it might be possible to make progress. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Follow me on Twitter: @JeffOnTheRight