Rich, I feel your pain. You met my little girl, (I guess she isn't so little now but she will always be my little girl). I was a single Dad with her and her older brother for quite a few years. I found that when you towel dry her hair you can't do it like we do ours. The harder you do it the more tangles she gets. I figued out after about a year of killing her when I combed her hair. If you just wrap her head in the towel for about ten minutes and then spray a little detangler in it before you comb it (with a large toothed comb) and then blow dry it while using a brush it seemed to not hurt her at all.
Good luck and call me when she gets about 19. I know someone that fancys her.