I fudged a teeny bit with Cali on this rule. She approached me when she was 11 1/2 years old and said, "My friend, Julie, is getting her ears pierced for her b-day and wants me to do it with her for her party." Well, since it was a mere 6 months early, I grudgingly let her break the 12 year rule.
Last week, on Tueday, I walked into the kids' school to deliver something to a teacher. Nyah's teacher from last year, Mrs. Stokes' saw me and said, "Hey, Vanessa. Nyah just told me she's getting her ears pierced this weekend. How fun!" I was completely caught off guard. What? This was news to me! What in the world was Miss Nyah telling people? And why?!
When Nyah walked in the door from school I said, "So, Nyah. You are getting your ears pierced, huh?!"
"Oh, yeah. I was going to talk to you about that, Mom!"
Well, it turns out, Nyah's friend, Ady, was planning to get her ears pierced and invited Nyah along. I, of course, said, "Nyah, you are only 9 years old. You have to be 12 to get your ears pierced."
"Why?" Nyah asked.
"Yeah, Mom, why?" Cali chimed in.
"Well . . . uh, well . . ." I hesitated for a second before I came up with my fabulous mommy response. "Cali, you had to wait until you were ALMOST 12, and Nyah, you are only 9 years old. You have to be able to take care of them so they don't get infected! You don't want to have red, pussy ears!"
"Mom, I'll help Nyah take care of her ears. It'll be easy!" Cali responded.
Tag Team! What could I say now? "Well, the answer is, no! The family rule is 12 years old."
When Aaron got home from work, I told him about the situation. He just kind of looked at me blankly and said, "Well, why are we saying 12 years old?"
By this time I was completely frustrated. "We just do. That's the rule!"
As the days of the week ticked by, I started to wear down. Nyah would look at me with her sweet puppy dog eyes and say, "Please, Mom! I promise I'll take care of them."
Finally, on Friday, Nyah asked one last time. "Just call your dad and ask him!" I said in frustration.
I heard Nyah talking to Aaron and then she said, "Mom, Dad wants to talk to you."
I put the phone to my ear. "Vanessa, I told Nyah I'm just an old softy. I really don't care if she gets her ears pierced. It's up to you."
Why do I always have to be the bad guy? Did I really care anyways? Twelve years old. Nine years old. What's the difference?
Needless to say, Nyah was pleased as punch as she got dressed to head to the mall on Saturday.
She took her frog, "Sour Apple," along to help her feel brave.
Holding hands with Ady for moral support.
McKenzie, Kaitlin, Nyah and Ady with their beautiful new ears!
Hopefully, I will have more strength of character with the rest of the family rules: no dating till you're 16, and absolutely no kissing till you're 30! Ha! Ha!
7 comments:
Nyah couldn't wait to show us yesterday. She looks so pretty with her new earrings. She was so brave. The rule when I was growing up was 14 and I'm not sure why. I guess we tend to follow the tradition of our mothers, so I was thinking 14 for my girls too. Or maybe just when they're ready?
I never really had an earring rule. Other rules, yes, like make-up, shaving, cell phones...... BUT I would much rather give up any of those rules to uphold the no kissing till you're 30 rule!! lol
ha ha ha :) I had to beg & plead with my mom to get my ears pierced. (she had never gotten hers pierced, and there was no way I was putting a hole in mine) I begged all during my 4th grade year, up until Christmas and got them as a Christmas present. I was so excited & still remember driving to the mall. I took such good care of them and made sure that the earings that I wore matched my outfits perfectly. I had hot pink, blue, green, & yellow earings that were complete 80's/90's & perfect! That's fun she got to do it with friends, and I love that they took their stuffed friends for moral support. :)
It is funny how the kids can make us weak in our decisions especially when we don't know why we have a rule just that there is one. I love reading your blog it makes me happy and feel normal. Love you Vanessa!!
My mom's rule was 14 years old for pierced ears. So my sister Kerry got mad and just pierced them herself by numbing her earlobe with ice and pushing a needle through it. Well, thanks to my sisters craziness, I got my ears pierced when I was 12. My mom didn't want me to do anything crazy like Kerry did! It was great.
She looks so cute! She had this big smile on her face when she told us all about it! I asked her if she thought it hurt and she said, No! Not at all! So fun for her to get it done with friends! She looks adorable!
That's funny cause the roles are reversed in our house! I don't care when Jordyn gets her ears pierced, but dad doesn't want his girl to grow up too fast!
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