Ben Affleck Suffers Same Fate As Dads Of Daughters Everywhere

Jennifer Garner says she can always tell when husband Ben Affleck was left to his own devices with daughter Violet’s hair. It comes out looking like a rat’s nest.

Hey dads, sound familiar?

“You can always tell when he has been at it, just two random barrettes hanging in there. It’s so sweet,” Garner told InStyle.

She could have been talking about my husband. He was over the moon when I gave birth to a little girl (which – despite us not finding out prior to delivery – he just “knew” was going to happen), but when she started sprouting enough hair to require clippies and ponytail holders, he was lost.

“It doesn’t ever do what I want it to do,” he tells me. “I just don’t have the patience for it.” This coming from a guy who once had hair past his shoulders. But his was super fine, super straight hair, hair that never needed to be brushed out with no more tangles spray after a night of rolling around on a crib mattress, hair that never needed to be secured in two little braids hanging down his back.

Some guys get hair and are perfectly adept at handling their daughter’s locks. More are like my husband – facing a major learning curve after years of just not caring what their head looks like (because after years of long hair, his is now shaved in a Marine-like buzz – he does nothing more than shampoo daily). In our house it’s particularly funny because it’s the bald mother who has been showing Dad the ropes, teaching him about where on the head to place a ponytail (Not too high, this isn’t the eighties. Not too low – she isn’t an aging hippie) and how to brush out tangles without yanking on the scalp.

I’ll give credit where credit is due. He tries. If he’s the parent getting her ready for the day, her hair is at least brushed, albeit with a clip stuck at a random angle – kind of like Violet Affleck’s.

Dads, did you jump over the curve after your daughters were born or do you turn out girls who sport the ragamuffin look in the morning?

Image: TheInsider