I've never wanted them to be so fresh and so clean for their day to day activities. you're kids, who cares....to a degree. we've taught them to not put so much emphasis on their appearance because your character is way more important.

as the father, particularly for my daughter, I try not to put that beauty pressure onto her in the house. she'll get plenty of that everywhere else. I don't want the 'pretty girl' thing to have a negative effect on her healthy self-esteem. home should be a safe haven away from the heavy influences of society.

however, she's gotten to the point of simply not caring. she's in 9th grade and didn't care how she looked on picture day. our fault for not realizing it was picture day. I could've talked her into doing better with her afro and attire. but nope, she comes home and tells us it that it was picture day. I was disappointed in how she presented herself. she's 14. she needs to start caring more about her appearance. however, she's happy with who she is and its pretty hard to argue against that.

my son is only 9, so this isn't a real thing yet. however, he's growing his hair, but doesn't want to do the maintenance. he, nor my daughter, take picks with them to groom throughout the day.

its frustrating at times.