Sunday, June 29, 2014

Getting pierced

Last Monday Younger Daughter did something momentous: she got her ears pierced.

We required both our girls to wait until they were sixteen before deciding on this. Older Daughter was actually a couple of weeks short of sixteen when she got her ears pierced, but that was because their grandparents were up visiting and wanted to see the procedure.


Younger Daughter vacillated a bit about whether to get her ears pierced or not, but as her 16th birthday came and went, she decided firmly in favor. So off we went to Claire's, a bling store.


We had a fairly long wait because there were a surprising number of people ahead of us, getting their ears pierced. Two or three younger children (in the seven or eight-year-old range), a couple of young women, and one older man with a graying pony tail (well why not?).

I noticed this stuffed teddy bear underneath the "hot seat" for younger kids to clutch during the procedure. One of the littlest girls having her ears pierced declined the bear. "I'm not about to get shown up by a kid," muttered Younger Daughter, getting a bit nervous as the wait lengthened.


Younger Daughter chose her posts: a set of pearls.


Finally it was her turn. She listened as the young woman doing the piercing explained the procedure.


Her lobes were cleaned and prepped...


...and then the piercer made little dots to show where the piercing would happen.


After examining the dots for evenness and spacing, the piercer wasn't satisfied with one of them, so she wiped the lobe clean and replaced the dot. When she was satisfied, she gave Younger Daughter a mirror to see if the dots were where she wanted them. When it was all a "go," on came the actual piercing! First one side...


...then the other. I was impressed by the level of cleanliness the piercer maintained -- gloves, sterile posts, sterile piercing gun. (Better than when I got my ears pierced back in 1983!).


Younger Daughter said the procedure hurt a LOT less than she thought it would -- and was very pleased with the results.


The young woman showed Younger Daughter how to clean her ears, how to twirl and move the earrings, etc.


The results are classy and lovely. Another step toward young womanhood!

8 comments:

  1. Pearls are classy! Good choice, younger daughter!

    Jane

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  2. Just right for such a pretty girl!

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  3. Pearls never go out of style! And they go with almost any outfit!

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  4. Go to a real piercer next time. Those posts are too short to accommodate swelling and the post being forced through tears tissue. A needle used by a real piercer slices the tissue. It heals much quicker with less chance of infection. Also surgical stainless steel or one of the alternative metals(niobium, titanium) are the only metals that should be used in a fresh piercing especially if it's the first. Nickel allergies made getting mine healed nearly impossible.

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  5. O how lovely..and she looks classic..when i had mine done at the age of 36 yes 36...the ladies did both my ears at the same time..1 2 3 pop..and all done..
    another step on the road to being a lady..and also a gift idea..earrings always appreciated..
    love
    sara

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  6. I'll never forget when I got my ears pierced, I got them done as a congratulations for having my son. I must say after the first ear was done I was really not wanting to have the pain of the second ear being done but was to afraid to go through life with one hole in one ear and nothing to show for the pain. It definitely does hurt a lot, but it's a neat milestone none the less.

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