1.14.2011

Bitter Sweet

Recently I took Alyssa to the mall to get her ears pierced.  I was on cloud nine when Lys asked if she could get hers done. Visions of swapping cute earrings and jewelry shopping trips danced through my head. This was going to be bliss! :)

So, Alyssa and I were off to the mall. The lady prepped her and then the piercing gadget came out. The lady kind of tricked Lys into thinking she was just finishing up a mark on her ear when "POP!" Earring #1 in!

Alyssa was beside herself in tears and I started feeling sick to my stomach over my little gals sadness and pain. It took an entire HOUR to talk her into the other one getting done. I didn't want to have to hold her down for it either because this was her choice. Not mommy making her do it. I tried to talk her through it. Then, FINALLY, after a few nice strangers tried calming her and a few more words of encouragement from me, she let the other one get pierced. PHEW!!! I was ready for a nap and she had to sit with her head between her knees until the throw up feeling subsided. She has been known to get a little worked up at times. After we were leaving the mall I asked her if she regretted getting her ears pierced and she said "Nah. beauty is pain after all!" :)



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Later that evening Bria, seeing how cute the earrings were, asked if she could get her ears done and I quickly said, "NO! I am still too traumatized by Lys's experience. Ask me in a year!" lol

I remember being 9 when I wanted to get my ears pierced. My dad was not happy about the idea. He kept saying "You only want it done cause that is what everyone else is doing, right?" I said "Nooooo!" Though in all actuality that was a part of the reason as to why I wanted them. The other part, which is what I told him, was that I wanted to be pretty. Then my dad's eyes teared up a little as he squeezed me a little tighter than usual saying, "My baby is growing up!"

The next day my ears were pierced! It sure is nice being the baby of the family. *wink,wink*

Now that I am on that side of the coin, I understand what my dad was feeling and why he was so reluctant to let me get my ears done. I find that as a parent its hard to let go of that little child. Its like looking at them as they are, but still seeing that little boy in his cowboy hat, diaper and holster complete with pistols or the little girl in pigtails dragging her favorite dolly around everywhere she goes. Its bitter sweet.


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4 comments:

kellibattraw said...

What a sweet post! My parents made us wait until we were 18 to get our ears pierced. They told us if God had wanted holes in our ears he would have put them there. ; )

Anonymous said...

Sharon,

I was searching for my GF's blog and came across your interesting one. Was reading about your oldest dd having her ears pierced and your younger dd wanting them too.

When I read it, it reminded me of a situation with both our girls, one aged 3.5 and the other 18
mos. When our ODD wanted her ears pierced, we agreed and she did great. However, she wanted to
know why her baby sister didn't have earrings too. I tried to explain to her she wasn't old
enough until her baby girl cousin, aged 13 mos showed up for a visit with cute little gold balls in each ear! Again, she wanted to know why she had earrings and her sister didn't. My SIL said it was something she had wanted to do since birth and her dd did very well and they were easy to care for.

I asked our ped about having our YDD's ears pierced at the same time as our 3.5 yr old.She said,
it have become more popular to pierce newborns, infants and little girls ears because is safer
with the newer ear piercing instruments than the traditional methods of using a needle, thread by the mother or grandmother. I asked her advice and she encouraged me to go ahead and pierce our YDD's ears since she showed me a picture of her two girls w/earrings at similar ages. I was surprised at her response and told her I would think about it. Her reasoning was when mommy cared for them, there was never any problems during the healing time, but when little girls wanted them, they often failed to care for them properly.

I was still uncertain until she gave me some suggestions for moms having their dd's ears pierced. I put them away and thought it would be years before I needed to read it. Wrong. I finally gave in seeing other babies and little girls with cute earrings and yielded to pressure from my 3.5 yr old and got both girls done within a month of each other.

Don't know if you'd considered having your younger dd's ears pierced now, but after I did, my ODD was so proud her sister had earrings. Both girls looked adorable in their pics with little pierced ears and never had problems.

I'd say if you've remotely thought about it, then your mommy intuition is telling now is better
and go ahead with both girls. Write me an e-mail for our ped's tips which included some OTC meds to minimize any discomfort from the procedure.

Amy
amyswor@hotmail.com

Sarah Menini said...

I let my daughter get her ears pierced at 3.5 because she was asking to get it. She was very brave even after I told her a gun would shoot a hole through her -haha...
Anyhow quick tip for next time: Call ahead and ask if they have two people available (trained) to pierce ears and go then. Both women can pierce both ears at the same time and then there is no talking it up for the next ear cuz they are both done!
See my daughter getting her ears pierced at
http://www.menini.net/?p=40

Quincy Sorensen said...

Alyssa looks so sweet, Sharon! Gosh, kids grow up quickly.

(My ears aren't pierced--long story--so my girls haven't noticed earrings yet.)

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