Sunday, April 05, 2009

A rite of passage for a little girl

I've written about this before. In our house, we don't believe that you do things like pierce the ears of a child without their desire.

Our 9 year old has had her ears pierced for a while. Her mom was really excited when she wanted to get them pierced. For some reason, I wasn't. She passed the test which means she came to me on her own and had to ask me if she could get her ears pierced. I then proceeded to grill her with a series of questions that are both scary (Do you know that this will hurt?) to showing signs of resposibility. When she succeeded, I knew my baby girl was growing up. I hate that.

Our 5 year old has been asking to get her ears pierced for a while now. She's even passed the interview with daddy. Finding the right time to do it was proving to be a challenge.

For little girls, it was suggested that we do this at a time when the store had two staff available. That way, each ear could be pierced simultaneously. Not a bad idea.

Now - a rite of passage for a little girl: in pictures

This week was spring break. Mom had a lighter load at school and the local Claire's had 2 staff working Friday afternoon. The chair you see here was ready and the time was right.
She chose her big sister as the person she wanted to hold hands with. She was a little scared but to say she wasn't excited would be a colossal undersatement.
Her hair was pulled back revealing the smile that had been on her face since we told her where she was going. She so wants to be a big girl.
She was really trooper and just sat so still while the clerk marked the spot. It took a couple times to find the right spot everyone agreed on. She didn't wiggle a bit. I didn't even know that was possible.
There's that smile. I think she's ready!!!
All done! Look the smile is still there. All looks good.
Well, she held her smile for a minute. And that's the full 60 seconds, but the waterworks did finally start. She was so brave for sooo long! My heart broke.
But in the end, my baby girl became a little girl. She's really happy with the results and has been going out of her way to make sure everyone knows. She's a big girl now...look! Can't you see my ears?

13 comments:

Melisa Wells said...

Aww! I love that you took photos of this rite of passage. She will too, when she's older.

(and she's adorable!)

Abba-Dad said...

Damn they grow up so fast. I really don't want to have this conversation but I know it's coming soon.

terri said...

Oh, poor little sweetie! She really is a brave girl. My almost 16 year old has yet to get hers pierced. Doesn't bother me in the least.

Kat said...

So sweet. I have decided to go with the same philosophy myself when it comes to ear piercing. I am not doing it until they are old enough to ask.

Kim said...

Awh.... So brave.. I have not been by to comment in a while.. I cannot get over how big she got.. wow..

OhCaptain said...

Melisa: I hope she enjoys these. I showed her the post and all she wanted to see was the close up of her ears.

Abba-Dad: Don't they grow up fast? You've got a couple years yet. She's actually been talking about it since before Thanksgiving.

Terri: I would have been happy to wait but alas, she's the last of classmates and passed my tests.

Kat: Don't rush them either. My wife and I have done little to promote them.

Kim: So good to hear from you! They grow up right in front of us. I hope everything is going better for you. You've been in my thoughts.

WeaselMomma said...

She is so cute! And Brave! Did you then tell her all about how to keep the boys at bay?

dmarks said...

Ouch. I'm just glad I'm not a girl or a pirate or Mr T, and am able to avoid this myself.

seashore subjects said...

How exciting for her, and so sweet that she wanted her sister's hand!

Anonymous said...

Oh yay! I know what I'm getting her for her birthday!! :)

The Microblogologist said...

WeaselMomma: Don't give him a heart attack mentioning the B word!

They grow up WAY too fast, my niece will correct you if you say she is 5, "I am NOT 5, I am 5 AND A HALF!" She does not appreciate me saying she is still my cute little baby niecey...

Noob Mommy said...

How exciting! Next it'll be makeup!

NLK said...

I love listening to other people's take on parenting. Precious pictures. I remember when my oldest was 4 days old, I went into the leasing office of our apartment complex, and the leasing agent asked me if I'd pierced her ears yet? It was impossible for me to hide my visceral horror, as it played out all over my face. To each their own of course but really... 4 days old?? Come on... :/