As you might remember, Annabel started expressing an interest in getting her ears pierced back over the summer. When the interest turned into her asking regularly to get her ears done, Mike and I sat down and talked about it. We laid out some goals for things she had to improve on and achieve at school, and once she hit those we’d revisit the subject.
Well, the girl buckled down and hit every goal we laid out for her by mid-November. Mike and I discussed it decided that we would let her get her ears pierced, with the stipulations that she a) take care of her ears herself and b) keep up the good work at school. She also had to understand that if anything changed for the negative, we reserved the right to remove her earrings and that would be it.
After looking at the calendar, I realized we are in prime piercing time. She’s between sports (soccer and softball), and with swimming starting right after softball, this was the only time where she’d have a large stretch of time to pierce her ears until this time next year. So when Annabel’s best friend E came over last week to spend the night, I said to the girls, “Hey, why don’t we go get Annie’s ears pierced right now?” The girls started screaming with excitement, and continued screaming and squealing the entire way to the piercing parlor.
When we got inside, Annabel started to get nervous. I’d figured this would happen, which was why I’d made sure to bring along E for moral support. E already had her ears pierced and was totally blasé about the whole thing, “Don’t be nervous Annie, it doesn’t hurt, you BARELY feel it. My flu shot hurt more than my ears.” E is totally chill and I love it. The two of them looked at the jewelry and Annabel settled on a pair of tiny sparkling studs that changed color in the light.
In the piercing room, Annabel sat down on the chair.
Her: “I don’t know if I want to do this.”
Me: “Cool! Let’s go, then!”
Her: “No, I do! I don’t want to leave! I want to get my ears pierced!”
The piercer took some time to place marks on Annabel’s ears while E chatted away about school gossip. I could see that Annabel was definitely doubting things.
So I said, “Annie, this is 100% your decision. If you don’t want to get your ears pierced, you don’t have to.” But she replied with, “No, I want to! I’m just nervous!” The piercer showed her the marks on her ears, then explained how the whole piercing thing would work. She showed Annie how she’d hold her earlobe, told her how long the whole thing would take, and even touched Annie’s ear with the back of her needle so she could get an idea of how it would feel. She told Annie it would feel like a pinch, only for a second, and then it would be over. E then chimed in with, “Seriously, bug bites hurt more than this.”
With everything laid out on the table both metaphorically and literally, Annie said, “Okay. I just need a minute.” And then proceeded to take SIXTY minutes to come to a decision. We had this exchange about 147 times:
Me: “You seriously don’t have to do this. Let’s just go and come back another time.”
Her: “NO! I WANT TO GET MY EARS PIERCED.”
Me: “Okay, then let’s do this!”
Her: “I just need a minute!”
My line between Supportive Parent and Patient Parent became daaaaangerously thin. But if E could sit there patiently while Annie waffled, I had to, too. I finally said, “Annie. Look. I know you want to get your ears pierced and you’re nervous. But we’ve been here an hour and we can’t take up anymore of [piercer’s] time. So you either have to do this now, or we have to go. But I know you, and I know if you walk out of here without your ears pierced you’ll be seriously upset.”
She thought about it for a second and then said, “Okay, let’s do it.” The piercer immediately jumped into action and pierced her right ear. E and I cheered and jumped up and down while Annie sat there, stunned. She said, “Can I get the other ear pierced another time?” Before I could reply, E flatly said, “Nope.” LOL I love her.
While I leaned in to tell Annie I was proud of her bravery, the piercer quickly pierced her other ear. Annie didn’t even realize it until the earring was in! She jumped up and looked in the mirror and immediately started squealing with E, while I thanked the piercer profusely for her patience and also asked where the nearest liquor store was.
In the week since they’ve been pierced, she’s been diligent about caring for them, and she’s been incredibly positive, happy, and helpful in that time. “Mom, I’m so proud I earned getting my ears pierced! Whenever I feel like talking or making a joke in class, I’ll just touch my ears and think, ‘shhh Annie, remember your earrings.'”
If that turns out to be true, I’m sure her teachers will wonder why we didn’t get her ears pierced sooner.
Lee Cockrum says:
This is such a great read, from how much her friend helped,to her remembering to be quiet in class to keep them! So sweet!
Jess says:
Love this!9
Stephanie says:
I’m pretty sure my mom could’ve written this exact story about 20 years ago. Proud of Annie’s bravery and so tickled by her friend, E. Too cute!
Becca says:
Aww! What a pivotal moment for her! I don’t even know Annie and I’M proud of her! lol Enjoy those studs, kid
Jackson says:
You are a wonderful story teller. It brought back memories of getting my ears pierced — at age 20 by my sister with ice cubes and a potato! I wore earrings until a few years ago and along with make-up I just stopped. Now I may reconsider and put earrings in again. The make-up: maybe another day.
Erin says:
Too cute. Don’t touch your ears though, Annie! That’s how germs get into new piercings
Steph says:
Thanks for sharing. It brought back sweet memories of my girls’ hesitating in the piercing chair. And, wow, Heather, you are one patient mama. Not sure if I would have lasted an hour. Good job Mama, brave Annie and wise-beyond-her-years E
Jennifer says:
Way to go Annie! That was the funniest story ever! She’s quite a character.
Kristi says:
Sounds like my 10yo. We waited 8 weeks and took them out, I immediately tried to put in new ones and we couldn’t get them back in and she freaked out… and now the holes are closed up.
Glenda says:
Yay Annie! Way to go! E is funny too!
Rachel says:
Congrats Annie!
That last line made me glad I wasn’t drinking something while reading this, lol. =)
Nellie says:
I just adore your child to bits and pieces!! Not to mention those earrings look so darn cute!!!!!
LaFawne says:
My sister watched me get my ears pierced. She then refused to get her own done for several years. Apparently the look on my face scared her off! I remember it hurting like heck, but this was back in the 60s and they used a ginormous gun type thingie. Annie and her friend will remember this adventure forever. Love the story-
Rita A. says:
How bad a$$ is Annie getting her ears pierced at an actual parlor and not doing a quick piercing gun at a Claire’s!! Bravo kiddo!! It doesn’t hurt that you had the emotional support of your bull, E. LOL you go girl.
Jeanie says:
Annie is awesome! I was in my 30s when I got mine pierced and was scared. Turned out I could only wear 14k gold so I let my ears close up rather than go broke.
Giselle says:
I have the same common reaction. I don’t know if you’ll like this, but glad plated works just as well as full gold. So not anywhere near as expensive.
Giselle says:
GOLD. Gold plated. Not glad.
Kelly says:
Great job, Annie!! They look so nice.
That was soooo my oldest daughter when we got her ears pierced. It took at least three trips, with friends, her dad and her brother, and then finally she got brave, after sitting in the chair for over an hour! She has now had them pierced two other times (three holes on each ear) and says it is no big deal.
My youngest–just decided one day to do it and sat down and it was done. No questions, no hesitation or anything. Unfortunately, one of her closed up after a year and we had to get them redone, but again no problems.
A few weeks ago, my 19-year old son lost a bet and now has his ears pierced–although he initially told me that they were going to do it at the dorms while watching Walking Dead, he later told me that he went to a local tattoo parlor–thank goodness. But one of his friends confided in me over the break that they apparently “tried” to do it at the dorm, but it didn’t work. Guess I’ll be asking him about that during our seven-hour drive home from school in three weeks.
Lisa says:
Gaaaah-her face in the first pic….so pensive. Then the second picture she has the brave smile with the eyebrows still furrowed.
My daughters went together. The first child cried….then was happy. The second one said she still wanted to do it and then she became a limp noodle and slid out of my lap. I had no idea she could become boneless. I kinda feel bad because I made her do it when she was probably too young to make the decision but sooooo glad now that I did it because she is way worse with shots than she used to be (getting older and remembering more?) She is happy about them though.
Annie is a brave trooper!
Kristen G says:
Beautiful girl! I love all of your stories about her, she is too funny. Also, could she have a more perfect profile? That nose is just the cutest ever!
Lissa says:
I think I was 8 when I had mine done. I was a HUGE wuss and got both ears done at the same time. At the nice jewelry store with 2 employees, each with a gun. My Mom says my eyes went HUGE when they hit me simultaneously. When it was time to take the studs out, my Dad was the only one who could do it as my Mom chews her nails and couldn’t pry them loose. My Dad wasn’t the type of Dad to deal with any girly type of thing so it’s one of those touching unique memories I have of him. My ears got infected a few months later due to super cheap earrings from my cousin and it hurt so much I refused to put the studs back in. They sealed up overnight. A couple years later I had them repierced, again at the same time (still a wuss). Piercing through scar tissue hurt WAY more than the first time and I still have trouble sometimes getting an earring in one ear due to the scarring. So there’s another incentive to Annie Annie to maintain them and her privilege the first time aound! I think you guys handled all of this in such a perfect way!