Pierced

I never thought I'd have a 6 year old daughter with pierced ears. Here's how it went down:

Kate (and Joan too) were horrified- HORRIFIED- at the thought of getting their ears pierced. They've had very few fears in their life, but shots and needles is one of them. They come by this honestly enough, for their own father- that guy that is an insulin-dependant diabetic and therefore injects himself numerous times daily- fainted the last time he received a flu shot. TRUE.

Also, I always thought that "when they could take care of it themselves" would be an appropriate age. This translated to somewhere between 8 and 10 years old. I got my ears pierced at the end of 4th grade, but I had already been begging for YEARS. (Am I the only one who has a dad that said "If God wanted holes in your ears he would have put them there!"?) So I didn't want to make them yearn for years and years (see also: walking uphill BOTH WAYS to school), but due to their fears I didn't put much more thought into it.

Then, one day, Kate came home from school and told me she wanted her ears pierced. "Hmmmm" was all I said. Then she mentioned it again. Next she brought me the phone book, cordless phone (old school land line, I KNOW!), and attempted to look up the number for our salon herself.

So I called our salon and asked if they pierced ears there. Yes. Could they do both at the same time? No. When could they get us in? Friday. Kate is hopping around me this whole time. So we made the appointment.

Joan was adamant that she did NOT want hers done. To be honest, I was more for it for this reason: if one has pierced ears and the other does not, it will be easier for people to tell them apart.

Friday came along (coincidentally the last day of school), and we head to our appointment. Kate picks out some earrings and is all smiles. Joan even picks some out too, thinking that if it goes well for Kate, she might change her mind.

They call us back. Kate bursts into tears and hides behind me. I pull her back to the salon chair, sit down, and pull her onto my lap. Her hands are covering her ears and she is quietly crying. The lady wants to clean her ear lobes, and Kate refuses to move her hands and cries harder.

We are going home, sans holes, I'm am certain.

I remind Kate that she does NOT have to do this, that we can leave and do it another time when she is more ready. NOOOooooooooo she sobs. She wants to do it today.

But we can't do it if you don't move your hands.

*more sobbing*

I look up and Joan is standing next to us, tears streaming down her face, and she whispers desperately to me "Mommy! Don't let them do it!"

We are FOR SURE going home without piercing, I'm POSITIVE now.

I tell Kate again that we'll just do this another day. That no one is making her do this, and I understand that it's a bit scary, and we'll come back another time and try again.

NOOOOOOOOOOO. I want it today!

An idea popped into my head and I ask the lady if we can have a sucker. While she goes to get one, I tell Kate that even babies who are getting shots think it hurts less if they have something sweet to suck on. The lady returns with the sucker and Kate grabs it, hands shaking, and rips the wrapper off. Faster than you can imagine, the lady pierces one ear and then the other. Kate didn't even cry or flinch or anything.

We pay and leave with Kate absolutely FLOATING on cloud nine, so proud of herself. So exhilarated for overcoming her fear.

(Joan still says NO WAY.)

BTW, she's done most of the care of them herself. She turns them a couple of times a day, and I apply the Bactine 2x a day (because our local drugstore only had the spray kind, and I don't want her spraying herself in the face on accident. Otherwise, she could and would do that herself too.)

So that is the story of how my 6 year old got her ears pierced.