Decisions, Decisions!

When Joseph and I found out we were expecting our first little girl, one of the things we discussed was when to allow her to get her ears pierced. We decided then that we would wait until she had an interest and until she was prepared and willing to accept the pain involved. The topic came up a couple of times when we lived in Spokane, but when we told her that a needle was involved, she quickly declined.

When Brynn started kindergarten this past year the topic came up again. Good ol' peer pressure. She noticed that many of the little girls in her class had pierced ears. Again we talked to her about the needle and I pinched her ear to give her an idea of what it "might" feel like. She again shuddered and told us she was not ready. (This is the little girl who fainted right before her kindergarten exam while her brother was getting his immunizations. The anticipation of her own shots was just too much! It turned into a 4 hour ordeal because the doctor wanted to monitor her after the fainting spell.)

Fast forward to April of this year, we were in Utah visiting with Brent and Lindi and she noticed little Lydia had her ears pierced. She was amazed that someone less than one year old could handle the pain of having pierced ears. We again gave her the pinch test and she said, "I don't think I'm quite ready yet."

Then in the middle of July, she approached us again telling us "I've been thinking that I'm ready to get my ears pierced." I didn't want her to get them done, so I said, "Talk to Dad when he gets home from work." She did and kept talking about it for weeks. We set the date for July 1st and wrote it on the calendar. That day came and we had other things going on and didn't make it out. She was disappointed and asked us everyday for a couple of weeks when we were going to be able to do it. The following week, we happened to be shopping and passed a Claire's, so I said "Hey Brynn, do you want to go get your ears pierced tonight?" She looked at me hesitantly, and said, "Ya!" We walked into the store and for about 30 minutes she said over and over, "I'm just so nervous!" I told her that we could wait...she didn't need to do it tonight if she didn't want to. (I secretly didn't want her to do it...I don't want my baby growing up!) She asked over and over, "Should I?" To which I replied, "It's your decision." She would then reply, "I'm afraid it's going to hurt?" The clerk tried to tell her it wouldn't hurt. I told her it would hurt for a few seconds and then the pain would go away. This went on for 30 minutes. We had a talk from dad, we walked out of the store, we had a call from Grandma Rowene who told her she only had to do it if she wanted to, and then we walked back in to do the whole routine over again. I really wanted her to make the decision herself. She clearly wanted me to make the decision for her (we are so much alike). She finally decided all on her own that she indeed, DID want to do it.

When Joseph could see we were starting to move forward with the process, he came into the store. (He had been sitting in the van with Aaron). He didn't want to miss this momentous event in her life (as he put it). The "piercer" marked the spot, Joseph made her change it a few times....he didn't think it was centered quite perfectly. He finally asked if he could mark the spot. :) Brynn squoze the "hugging bear" as tightly as she could and the piercing began! After it was all over she turned pale white and had to go to the restroom because her tummy didn't feel so good. I think the clerk was really worried, but I told her this was pretty normal for Brynn.

Abby told us she wanted to get her ears pierced too....I was a little puzzled since she emphatically declined every time we did the pinch test. I asked her why she wanted to get them pierced. She replied with her puppy dog face, "I want to squeezthe the teddy bear and get a sthucker like Brwynn." We all started to laugh and when we told her she could get a sucker and hug the bear without getting her ears pierced, she was very relieved.

Brynn chose her birthstone, the pink tourmaline (looks like a pink diamond) for her first pair of earings. They are very feminine and cute!