Fabulous Girl Boutique

On September 1, I posted on my blog about getting Grey's ears pierced. There was a stranger that commented on my post and gave me some things to think about.

I asked on a natural parenting group for facilities that do ear piercing. I didn't want to take her to a box store or Claire's in the mall. My mom took me to Modern Jewelers, which was classy place. Someone in the group told me about Fabulous Girl Boutique. I went to their website and it seemed like such a special place to mark a milestone together. I scheduled her an appointment for 4:00pm on September 10.

I picked her up from school early, which is supposed to be a good thing, but she was running around chasing bubbles on the playground. She was not happy that I interrupted her playtime. She screamed and cried the whole way to the boutique. In my mind I'm thinking, "Today may not be the best day to do this."

I planned on eating a cupcake from the sweets bar after the piercing, but it ended up being done first so she could settle down and relax a little.

She sat in my lap at the bar as we shared a lemon cupcake and bottled water. She said, "Mommy, take a picture of me" so that is why she is cheesing at herself on the screen.

While we were sitting there eating our cupcake we were given the selection of studs to choose. 

I showed them to her and let her choose. She chose the biggest, shiniest, sparkly, pink ball. I probably would have gone with the silver ball, but I like the one she choose to. The owner sanitized and prepped while we finished up. 

Grey started out in the chair while her ears were getting marked for the placement. I had prepared her that ear piercings hurt so I think she sensed something was getting ready to happen so she wanted to sit in my lap. She sat completely still for the first hole. Then she screamed her head off, sweated a lot, and of course didn't want the other ear done. I had asked that they both be done at the same time, but that wasn't possible. I asked what people usually do between the two holes and she said that they either hold them down, walk around to let them calm down, or come back another time. I would say about 15-30 minutes passed and she held her hand over her bare ear pretty much the whole time letting us know that she did not want the other ear pierced. We had to redraw the marker on her ear because it sweated off. I told the technician to get ready because I was going to restrain her by holding her limbs down. I was not leaving with one earring to come back another day and do it all again. 

At home, smiling at last

As she slept the first few nights, she would sleep face down or on her back so she wouldn't lay on her ears. As I write this 20 days have passed since Grey's ears were pierced. She has not been cooperative letting me clean her ears. She screams all over again. I sneak in a twist of the stud every now-and-then. She is very cautious of her ears, even now. She wants me to be careful when I take her shirts off. Her lobes look really good and clean. They didn't get crusty or red. The earrings look beautiful on her.

I do not regret taking Grey to get her ears pierced. Yes, I do believe there is some temporary emotional damage done. I think the trauma will improve over time. This particular age (26 months) probably wasn't the most ideal time though. She is at an in-between stage where she can't unknowingly sit there like a newborn and willing like a 5-year old. There are other medical procedures, like circumcision, vaccinations, and ear tubes, that I have more remorse over. 

R