I teased you last week about Sonya deciding to get her ears pierced out of nowhere, so I think I'll start there. First let me give you the back story on the ear piercing subject.
For some reason, I never gave it much thought about when to get Sonya's ears pierced when she was a baby. I figured we would get them done at some point. Most little girls get their ears pierced these days. I had mind done when I was five. It wasn't until my sister, Beth had her daughter's ears done when she was just a baby, that I started to think about when to have my girls' done. Sonya was close to four at that point and I thought it would be a good time to do it. She, however, did not. I asked her if she would like to wear earrings like mommy, and of course she wanted to. That is until she found out how they were going make it so she could wear earring like mommy. She asked me if it hurt. Since I didn't want to lie and be proven to be a liar later, I told her it would. Immediately she was out. She had no interest in getting something that felt like a shot in her ear just to get earrings. No way. So I left it alone. I told her if there was a time she changed her mind let me know and we'd get it done. I was pretty certain it would be high school before she changed her mind, and then it would be because every other girl had them, or at least the "cool" ones.
Over the past couple of years I've asked her every now and then if she wanted them done. She always asks if it will hurt and since my answer never changed neither did hers.
Fast forward to December 2010. The girls and I went to pick up my parents from LAX a couple weeks ago before Christmas. My mother loves Christmas. That combined with being a first grade teacher has given her all opportunity to wear every Christmas shirt and piece of Christmas jewelry ever made. Tacky or not. This particular day she was wearing a pair of Rudolf earrings that Sonya took a liking too. Then she informed my mom that she was going to get her ears pierced while she was visiting us. This was all unbeknownst to me. I was in the front of the van driving and had not heard any of this conversation. That is why when we got back to my house and my mom asked me,
"So when are you getting Sonya's ears pierced?" I looked at her like her Rudolf earring had just taken flight over my head.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Sonya said she was getting her ears pierced while I was here," she told me.
"News to me!" I said. Then she told me what had transpired on the ride back from the airport. I called Sonya over to ask her if she wanted to do this. I was sure my mom was missing something somewhere.
"Sonya, Nona said you told her you wanted to get your ears pierced. Is that true?"
"Yeah," she said, like it was something I'd heard before.
"Are you sure? Because if you are I will make an appointment to go get it done." I told her.
"Yes," then she paused and asked once again, "Is it going to hurt?"
"Yup," I said. My mom quickly interjected with, "But only for a second and then you'll have pretty earrings!"
"Okay," she responded.
"Sooooo you want to do it then?" I asked to be sure.
"Yeeeessss!!" She said in her best teenage "I told you already mom! GEEZ!" voice.
I told her we would have to check with Daddy first, but I would call to make an appointment at the Doctor's office. I had seen that they pierced ears there. When Andy came home that night I had her check with him to make sure he approved and he was fine with it. Originally, I had made an appointment at the Doctor's for Thursday before Christmas, but Andy was still as work. When I told him that we were doing it that day he was disappointed and asked if we could move it so he could be there. He likes to be as involved in the girls lives as he can. Especially when other people are poking holes in their bodies. I knew changing the appointment would not go over well with Sonya, but I understood how Andy felt, so I had to. Besides, it wasn't like we said she wasn't getting it done at all. But the thing with Sonya is once she gets an idea in her head, if it doesn't go according to that plan the whole world may as well be collapsing. This is the reason I never tell her about play dates or other fun things we might do until I am for sure for sure we are doing them. There have been way too many occasions when I have an inconsolable child on my hands, because we can't get ice cream since her baby sister is THROWING UP. Or other such instances.
I told her we weren't getting her ears done that day because Daddy couldn't be there, but we would do it the next day, Christmas Eve. I tried to move the appointment at the Doctor's but they didn't have any openings until the next week. I knew there was no way she would wait that long. Now that she wanted her ear pierced finally, she wanted them done now. Truth be told, I wanted to do them sooner than later because I was worried she'd lose the desire and courage. I'm not so sure that would have happened though. She was determined. She had a bit of a breakdown when I told her we were moving the appointment. I might as well have told her Santa wasn't coming this year the way she reacted. It was only one day. But again, she does not deal well when things change like that. Not when she wants something.
So on Christmas Eve afternoon we went to Claire's at the mall. This was a better choice anyway, because they had two piercing guns to do both ears at the same time. A good way to ensure Sonya ended up with BOTH ears pierced. She talked about wanting blue earrings and found some pretty blue flowers. Then they marked both her ears. I could tell she was very nervous, but still wanted to go through with it. No turning back now! My mom and I tried to take pictures, but were then told that was big no-no in there. So Andy may or may not have used his phone to maybe or maybe not record her getting them pierced. Who knows? I do know that even though I was standing behind her when she had it done, the look on her face when she realized what happened was priceless. The two girls punched the earrings in and she looked stunned for about two seconds followed by tears. Then they distracted her by giving her a mirror to see how she looked, and a lollipop to make her forget about the pain. Because isn't that what lollipops are for? They give them out at the Doctor's after shots too.
It was done. We ooohed and aaahhed over her new pretty ears for the rest of the night. Lucky for her since Christmas was the next day, we had a few people coming to visit for her to show off to. She's been good about reminding me to clean them and they are healing really well. She is even more excited to take this pair out and try out different ones, but there is another 4 1/2 weeks until she can do that. So in her kid world, almost a year.
I'm still not entirely sure why she decided to do this all of a sudden. I did ask her one night at dinner about which friends of hers had their ears pierced, thinking maybe she had been influenced, but she told us none of her friends had them. Then she said,
"Oh except Ryan."
To which I said, "But....um.... isn't Ryan a boy's name?"
"Yeah, but he has his ears pierced," she told me.
So I guess there you have it. She figured if some BOY could get his ears pierced than she could certainly do it. I was taken aback at first by the whole boy in first grade having his ears pierced, but so many guys do it and if they have sons I suppose they would want it done too. Plus- I know I do live in Los Angeles, and we do do things differently out here, but I'm okay with that.
Up next-Lana! Although she seems pretty adamant about not getting it done right now. We'll just have to wait and see which boy changes her mind....
Hoping your girls will peer pressure Molly into getting her ears done. Wasn't big on it as a baby but think it is so cute for little girls. Good job, Sonya. That was HUGE for her!! Can't wait to Ooooh and Ahhhhhh....
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