Zenny announced last week that she wanted to get her ears pierced. "I'm turning 10, and I've already had surgery and blood draws and IVs, so I should be able to handle getting my ears pierced, no problem." Okay, then.
We decided to get the job done by piercing professionals, rather than a teenager with a plastic piercing gun at the mall, and called around the local tattoo shops until we found one who was willing to poke holes in a 9 year-old. Tattoo shops respect bodily autonomy, and won't put their hands on a crying little kid being dragged in by their parents, which is a stance I appreciate. The young man at Aloha Tattoo was very kind and gentle with her, made sure she was making the decision for herself, and led us through the shop to a little room overlooking the river. He breathed with her three times, she squeezed my hand, he pushed the needle through with the earring loaded in the end of it, and it was over in a second. She didn't make a peep, there was hardly any blood, and her ears stopped aching after an hour or two, with no redness or swelling. 100% better experience than mall piercings (which is how all of mine were done), and worth every extra dollar. The girl is so proud, and they are so cute.
As we drove home, she said, "And now the next time a soldier goes in for a tattoo and makes a fuss, he can say, I just had a 9 year-old in here who was braver than you!"
Right on, kid.
As I said on your post on FB- a rite of passage. Tell Lenny that she is brave and did good. I'm sure you already did.
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