Many of you won’t have come across this issue yet. It is one that has many parents from all walks of life debating on the rights and wrongs, or the reasons for and against.
I am against and I also have pierced ears.
So why, oh why did I agree to boyo here getting an ear pierced when he was 10 years old ?
Lets look at it this way. Boyo spends a lot of his life missing out on things that he should be able to take part in as he has a brother with a disability. He spends his life defending his brother on one hand, while also feeling resentful and upset at what he misses out on.
He really, really wanted his ear pierced, and because I say no to so many things that he asks to do, I had to think hard. I skirted around the subject for a couple of weeks, saying neither yes, or no. I exaggerated how painful it was to get done and regaled him of tales of festering, pain and misery. One day I looked at his face, animated as it was while he was asking for this one thing from me. I realised that it is not an issue at all. This was one thing that I could say yes to, and make him happy.
Some people may not like it, and I certainly don’t. It did however give him a massive boost to his confidence and his face has beamed with pride wearing his ear-ring since the day it was done. For his confidence, it was worth every second of disapproving looks that come our way. If he needs to, he can take it out for jobs and interviews as he grows older, and he may decide on his own to remove it.
He knows it will be the one ear-ring and I am not going to agree to multiple piercings. Having the ear done has certainly done away with any talk of future piercings in other bodily places.
Was it the right thing to do? Yes it was. It’s a non-issue.
A twitter pal said to me that she couldn’t argue with her daughters request for pierced ears with just the reason that mum didn”t like it. I agree with that. There are soo many other battles that need to be won in the parenting department, that are actually important.
Then it comes down to the appropriate age.
- I am glad the issue didn’t come up pre 10.
- I am glad my other two don’t want an ear pierced.
- I am glad I don’t face the girl child debate for both ears done pre-school.
I will never forget my mums words as I grew up pleading for my ears to be pierced.
“If you were meant to have holes in your body, then you’d have been born with them.”
Well lets see. If we were meant to wear make up. If we were meant to dye our hair. If we were meant to wear high heels. If we were meant to be free of underarm hair. If we were meant to have a tan. Where does it start and where does it stop?
What do you think? Where do you sit on the piercing debate?
I certainly don’t know what the “right” age to have a piercing is. I don’t think there is one.