While working in a pediatrics office, I met a six year old who had a split ear lobe, looked like a forked tongue. Her mother told me that she had her ears pierced as a new born, when she was about 18 months old her earring got caught on the netting in her play-pin and ripped the earring straight out.
I use to say, they are my daughters ears not mine, it's her body and I don't have a right to change it.
I don't want my daughter to think she needs anything to "make" her beautiful. I want my daughter to have a healthy body image. I don't have a very healthy body image, I dislike many things physically about myself, and am very insecure, I don't want that for my child. I'm not saying having her ears pierced would cause her to feel negatively about herself, I just want her to know that earrings aren't for making her beautiful, she is beautiful because of who she is.
When my daughter turned 3 she started asking me to get her ears pierced. I didn't think she was ready so I said no. Some of the little girls at daycare had them and she wanted them too. Then 3 months ago she started ballet and many of the girls there have their ears pierced and the requests started to happen weekly. Then my daughter's new born cousin got her ears pierced and I knew she wouldn't let it go if she saw that.
Stevi and I went to the mall, and this is when it hit me, I'm not against having my daughter get her ears pierced. I just wanted to shared in this experience with her, I wanted her to have fond memories of it, the way I do with my mom. I can remember my mom holding my hand when I got mine done, I can remember her telling me she was proud of me for not crying. Holding my daughters hand when she had hers done has been one of the best mother daughter days I've had so far.
So for me, not piercing my daughters ears wasn't about the reasons I gave, but about wanting to create fond memories, like the ones I have with my mom.
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