Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Ear Piercing and life...

I had to be 13 to get my ears pierced. I don't remember how old I was when I got my
2ND holes. I do know I was 16 when I got the 3rd hole in my left ear... through the cartilage.. Ouch! I remember that one vividly as I proudly wore the earring for 4 hours before my parents demanded it disappear. To be honest... I don't think they liked the 2ND holes anymore than the 3rd.

We had decided that our daughters (not son) had to be 13 to get their ears pierced too. You know.. the ole parenting style of "you can do it when I did it". Well, when Waverly was 9, all she wanted for Christmas was to have her ears pierced. THAT WAS ALL! After much thought.. I agreed. Skip, on the other hand, was very much against it. We finally convinced him that she was old enough to take care of her ears. It turns out, that was not the problem. He viewed ear piercing as a sign of growing up. I didn't see it that way to the same degree.

So.. on 12/26/06, the family loaded in to the van (RIP) and headed to the French boutique, Claire's. For those without tween girls.. Claire's is a money pit. Wish I had part ownership of that place. The very qualified young ladies at Claires (after they finished munching a snack) both got on either side of Waverly to proceed with the minor surgery. Now this is where it gets interesting.. Picture this.. Claire's is packed full of tweens eager to spend their Christmas money. Grant is bored stiff. Kendall is hiding in the furtherest corner because she didn't want to see Waverly get hurt. Skip has tears in his eyes (literally). Waverly is sitting in the chair crying. I am trying to convince the young employees that I am not making her get her ears pierced and that it was completely her decision. Here is a photo of the "HAPPY MOMENT".
Can you see the joy in this child's eyes?

Well, Kendall turned 9 this summer. She proudly announced that she is never getting her ears pierced. We were all a bit relieved. Well, about 2 weeks ago, she came home from school stating she was ready to take the plunge. Here we go again. We load up the car and drive to Claire's. This time, Grant was a bit more interested and watched. Skip was tearing up again. Waverly hid in the corner. Kendall sat in the chair squeezing a teddy bear crying. I was, again, trying to convince the nice employees that we are not making her get her ears pierced. Here is a photo of the happy girl:


Doesn't she look thrilled:


But.. the tears were gone in seconds. They are both now pierced. It should be the last piercing experience for the Gilcreases if all goes as planned. Skip is still a little sad but he is handling it much better. One of the fun memories we will treasure forever in an 'odd' way.

4 comments:

Angela Richardson said...

Oh my goodness! Those pictures make me wanna reach through the computer and hug their necks! Poor things. Now they have a story to tell their friends though of how brave they were getting their ears pierced...just don't show their friends the pictures. :)

jenniferg said...

Okay.. this is where your more sensitive side is showing. I am laughing at my own children and you are sympathetic. No wonder they want us to go on another marriage retreat so they can stay with you.

Anonymous said...

This is the best blog ever officially! I love it! I am so glad you captured this moment for them. I think it is precious...Cayden cried too! She was only 3 months old though...I know! But she loves it now.

I love you!!!!!!

Unknown said...

HA HA HA I can not stop laughing!"Can you see the joy in this child's eyes?" Oh my gosh, I busted my gut on that one! ♥,
Megan Peterson