Anna gets her ears pierced

I have bizarre parenting techniques . . . according to my mother. 

Today I took Anna (age 6) to get her ears pierced. 

My philosophy on the whole ear piercing thing is that I wanted her to make her own decision about it.  

I guess that is where my mother thinks my parenting is a bit bizarre.  

You see, my Mother  did not allow me to make that decision, nor the decision when to shave my legs. While all my friends were reaching the ear piercing milestone and the shave your legs milestone, I was stuck behind. It didn't feel so good. I would occasionally sneak to shave my legs, and yes, I ended up piercing my own ears. I was one determined little chick. I am sure it was rough to raise such a strong headed little girl. But I like to think that today, as a 30yr, I have channeled that stubbornness into a healthy assertiveness.    (I also ripped my braces off with needle-nose-pliers. But that is another story for another time.)

For Anna, I wanted to take the opportunity to teach her about making informed decisions. She, like me, is quite assertive.  

"Mom, will it hurt?"  

YES. 

"How bad?" 

BAD.  

"What do they do?" 

They punch a hole in your ear with a gun. 

"What?" 

Yes, you are allowing them to punch some of your skin out.  

"umm. okay. Never mind. I don't think I am old enough."

alright, well let me know when you are.

For the past 2years now Anna has been back and forth about whether or not to partake in this female tribal tradition. Over these 2 years I have helped teach her how one goes about getting information in order to aid in the decision making. We have interviewed friends, watched youtube videos, googled ear piercing websites,  and discussed mother to daughter about the pros and cons of piercing. We have also researched how long the earrings must remain in and the work it takes to keep the earlobe from getting infected. 

So, when she said this past weekend that it was time, we set a date.

We both decided that Friday would be a good day so that she would have the weekend with them before heading back to school. 

She also decided, since she knew she would be a bit nervous, to take her special blanket with her for the piercing. 

her little neighborhood friend gives her a thumb up but still doesn't know why someone would get a hole in their ear

She did wonderful!  And the girl is so proud of herself for following through with the first big decision she has ever made.

When Anna called her Granny I could tell that Granny was not pleased. To help ease things with my Mother I expressed my desire to get a tattoo . . . on my FACE.