Lira has never been a daredevil. If I weren’t her mom I might call her a chicken—Bbrrk, brroock, broock, brk-ooock. So I was surprised on Saturday when she said to me, on the way back from a birthday party, “Mom, I want to get my ears pierced.”
Really??? Just the other day she told me (Taylor Swift-style) that she would “never ever ever—like ever” get her ears pierced.
“Are you feeling brave?” I asked. She nodded.
I decided to seize the moment. We were almost home when I turned the car around and drive to the mall. We tried calling and texting Dave on our way there. No answer. I made an executive decision: this was happening.
When we got to Pentagon City we headed straight to Icing, which is supposed to be a classier Claire’s. Lira picked out tiny green daisy studs and sat in the chair without an ounce of fear. “You scared?” I asked. She told me she wasn’t. “Just nervous,” she said.

The piercer distracted her with talk of princesses and, before we knew what happened, one ear was pierced… and then the other. Not a tear in sight! Who is this kid???
We walked (actually, she skipped) back to the car and tried calling Dave again to share the news. He congratulated her, told her he was proud of her and then asked to talk to me. Uh oh. He was not happy. He said “6 is too young! She’s growing up too fast! Why not let her be a kid for as long as possible?” But to me this isn’t a kid vs. grownup thing. This is about bravery. I was so proud of her. But more importantly, she was so proud of herself.
Lira shared her ear-piercing experience at show-and-tell, and came rushing home to give me a hug and tell me about it. But there was just one problem… one of her earrings was missing!
We rushed back to the mall, this time with Dave and Zana in tow. The hole was closed! Apparently, in the first 6 weeks, the hole closes as soon as the earring comes out. The only thing to do was re-pierce that ear. Time to test just how brave Lira really was.

Don’t worry, she did fine. The real spectacle was Zana sitting on Dave’s shoulders sobbing and drooling into his hair, then rubbing it in for good measure– all because she wanted her ears pierced too. Between Dave’s nervous sweat and Zana’s tears, we gave that place a bath.

By the way, if you notice in pictures that she’s wearing two different earrings, it’s because the store was out of the green daisies. So there’s a white one to in one ear and a green one in the other. We know better than to try to switch out the other earring to match.

How old were you when you got your/your daughter’s ears pierced? Was it an ordeal or no-big-deal?
Oh no!!!! Poor thing! I’m proud of her for being brave twice!
I know. Can you believe it? I’m so paranoid that they’re going to fall out ago that I’ve given her a hand mirror so she can keep checking to make sure they’re still in.
I just had my 21 month old daughter’s ears piecerd 3 weeks ago. She cried while it was being done, but has never played with them since having them done. She comes right to the counter twice every day when I tell her we have to clean her earrings. She loves to move her head from side to side to show them off to any admirers. I personally think people who say it’s barbaric and just for the mother’s sake are ridiculous. My daughter, myself, her daddy and even her twin brother all like the earrings her brother calls them pretties .If she doesn’t want them anymore when she gets older, she can take them out. If she wants more piercings, she just has to ask for them and help take care of them.And my son was circumcised at 10 months old since we could not do it since he was a preemie and there were issues we waited for him to grow out of. He was crawling around like nothing had happened a few hours later.Children have a higher threshold for pain than we think. They are not predisposed to thinking or knowing what pain feels like it is adults that put those thoughts in their heads.
Hamza, I bet your daughter looks beautiful in her new pretties!
What a hoot!! I was laughing & crying at the same time, reading this, esp. since today my oldest turnsed 50, but seems like yesterday. She was much older , but Moms are Moms, as bravery also goes!!
Happy Birthday to your oldest! I’m sure you remembers this vividly– I know I will. Probably forever.
Wow! Lira is a rockstar! I remember i wanted my ears pierced so badly at that age, but my mom wasn’t having it. I had to save my own money ($8) and get myself to the walgreens. So it didn’t happen until 4th grade :-/
(love your blog, besa!)
My mom wouldn’t let me get mine pierced either, so (of course) I did it behind her back when I was about 10. (thanks so much for reading!)
Good job getting it done a second time, Lira! I think 6 is certainly old enough for ears piercing. I tend to draw the line before kindergarten. I’d rather they make the decision themselves, like Lira did. Good job, Mom, on turning that car around and seizing the opportunity! I think my parents got mine pierced at age 2. Then they got infected, and I stopped wearing earrings up until I was in my 20s and got them re-pierced!
I forgot how easily they get infected… which is why I gave her a hand mirror to look at throughout the day instead of asking her to feel if they’re still there.
I hear it hurts more when you’re older– was it bad getting them pierced in your 20s?
No, not really. Just a pinch like getting blood drawn, but faster. And they’re still ok & not infected. Though I do stay clear of lower quality earrings.
I’m so proud of Lira, I was starting 2nd grade when I had mine pierced the first time the old fashion way with a needle and thread(Kosova) style. It took me one hour after the first one was done to do the other one and they were so uneven lol. Wish I had known that my holes would have closed immediately if I had pulled the string out and not done the second one at all. But not to worry when I hit 6th grade I got brave and had them pierced the right way. Love wearing earings now.
Needle and thread is scary! Nona Have kept offering to do mine but I was like “no way!” I eventually had them done in Gjakove.
Remember those kids who had a piece of hay (kosht?) in their ears?
I thought it wasn’t sotheming she needed or really wanted . It’s a beauty thing that adults force on their kids because they think it’s cute. Sure it’s cute, but does she know that? No, so why get them except for your own reasons, not hers. It’s her body so when she is old enough to ask for them and I think she can take care of them, then yes she can have them. I mean, I can’t say no, I have 5 holes in each of my ears.
So brave! I remember my Grandma Annie took me to the jewelry store in the next town when I was seven. It took, but I only remember walking out of the store. I dunno if I was too traumatized or what. It’s the same store she took me to when I was older to get a mickey mouse watch. I love you, gma Annie! I think I’ll let Rachel decide when to get hers done. She’ll probably be a late bloomer…because it’s scary! Good decision, B. Love you guys.
Rachel might surprise you like Lira surprised me. It’s funny that you remember the Mickey Mouse watch but not the ear piercing-ha
Mickey mouse must have been more important to me. I do remembering wanting one so bad…unsure why. I was too cool. We will see about Rachel. I better check if dad has any preference.
I remember when my niece got her ears pierced. You could hear the scream at the other end of the mall! (And, it was a long mall.)
Well done, Lira!
Lira cries if someone looks at her the wrong way, so I was pretty surprised.
I was searching for my GF’s blog and came across yours. Started reading about the great story about your ODD, Lira, getting her ears pierced twice and her younger sister wanting them too. Your story reminded of a funny experience of mine when we pierced our ODD’s ears at 5 yrs after she begged for almost a year and our 2 year wanting earrings too like her sister.
After piercing our ODD’s ears, we came home showed daddy. He admitted that he really loved them. What happened next surprised me. Dh asked why we hadn’t had our other two daughters, aged 25 mos old! I didn’t know what to say, but then our 5 yr chimed in saying she wanted her baby sister to have matching earrings like hers. I told her the story of Sandi’s younger sister WANTING them done, but I thought it was too young. Wrong. Now my family was ganging up on me! Everyone wanted both girls to have their ears pierced!
The next day, dh calls out to me from the family room asking me to come in there. Our almost 3 yr had gotten a pair of my earrings and was asking dh how to put them in her ears! She almost put one in her ear canal! Dh laughed and told me to take her to have them pierced before we had to take her to the ER to remove an earring!
Well, I asked our ped about doing the toddler. To my surprise, she encouraged me to do our toddler when she won’t remember it and when when mommy can care for them properly causing fewer problems. It was summer time and I had a little more time so guess what…both my girls got their ears pierced ears within a week. I let daddy hold our 2 yr old and she was so pleased to have earrings like mommy and her sister, she never cried a tear. Our girls now have matching earrings and are adorable too.
Don’t know if you’ve considered having YDD’s ears pierced, but it sounds like she is ready and asking too. Looking back it actually was a good idea and it wasn’t even mine. Since I was the only one who needed convincing.
If you’ve thought of having your YDD’s ears pierced, maybe your mommy intuition is telling you to do it and I know she’ll be thrilled. Hopefully, you can avoid her putting one of your earrings in her ears wanting to be like mommy and her sister.
Angie
angietune@hotmail.com
Hahaha Angie, that’s an awesome story! I can’t believe your husband was all about it. Mine is just now getting used to the idea (6 weeks later).
I’ve definitely thought of getting little sister’s ears pierced, and it’s good to know that your pediatrician was in favor of it. I mainly worry that she’d mess with them and they’d get infected. If that didn’t happen with your 2 year old, maybe my 3 year old would be ok???
Btw, thanks for checking out the blog and for commenting!
Thanks for the feedback. Your mommy intuition is working for sure since you definitely thought of getting little sister’s ears pierced. When I asked our ped, I fully expected her to say wait on our 2 year old so I was very attentive to her comments and took notes like an OCD mommy. Here are a couple of reasons to follow your heart and maybe set your mind at ease doing it now:
First, she wants it and will be cooperative with cleaning and caring for them having seen her sister as a role model for proper care of newly pierced ears. Second, as our ped told me when I asked, 95% of women have their ears pierced, but all little girls want it done when they see other little girls at 4-5 yrs. However, they fail to care for them, play with their ears at school when you’re not around to properly care for them during the healing phase and this is the group of little girls whose ears often get infected. Third, in the summer there is a little more time with kids so you’ll be able to properly care for them. Lastly, doing it now will be less emotional trauma for her because when she sees other little girls with earrings, they will instinctively tell how they cried, and make her anxious. Now your 3 year is willing to follow your care for them, but ready.
Know if you go ahead now, she’ll be okay with it and both girls will be lovely with little earrings. I also remembered our ped recommending a simple 4mm gold ball which is just a hair larger than the usual 3mm piercing studs for ease of cleaning and care. She was right, they were very easy to turn and clean properly.
Please let me know what you decide.
Angie
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