If I could decide, mornings would be a combination of blissful quietness, bright sunlight, large cups of coffee, space to let my thoughts and imagination wander off and with no more than a few words uttered.

But with two young girls and a husband who works in both Copenhagen and New York, (he wakes up to a full inbox of work related mails during the week because the Danes are 6 hours ahead), this is pretty far from my own reality. Feeding my family, getting the girls ready and dressed, packing lunch boxes and backpacks and making sure that I look halfway decent before leaving the house doesn’t leave time for much else than a quick coffee in-front of the bathroom mirror.

Though I have accepted that our mornings won’t be quiet and blissful before the day my daughters move away from home (and knowing myself and my husband, probably not even then) I’ll do whatever I can to try and minimize conflicts, stress and morning tantrums. And after thinking about it, I realized that this is probably why the messy top knot is the number 1. hairstyle in our house.

Both my girls have quite long and thick hair for their age, and though my eldest is getting good at brushing her own hair every morning, my youngest freaks out every time I try to brush out her messy and tangled locks. Getting the right hairbrush and using soft fabric hairbands has made my life a lot easier, but most times, brushing Alma’s hair out will still end up with me trying to catch a screaming child before she runs off and hides in her cupboard.

So I’ve stopped fighting with her. The days she feels like having her hair loose, she’ll let me brush it out, and the rest, I’ll just gather it all on the top of her head in a really messy top knot.

If anyone knows of any amazing tricks or kids friendly products for detangling long and thick hair, please let me know. Until then, I’ll choose my battles and accept that my youngest has a top knot on every single picture I take of her.