Lucy got her ears pierced today.
My sister, Monica, came down for the day especially to be with Lucy when she got her earrings. We got everything together and on the road made the decision not to go to the mall, but to take her to a little local jewelry store instead.
When Lucy was about six months old, she and I were out to lunch in Bountiful with some friends. At lunch, my friend, Leslee, mentioned that she wanted to get her little girl's ears pierced. I was thinking of piercing Lucy's, too - ultimately decided not to - but we went with them to the shop. I decided to go back to the same place where Leslee got Mia's ears pierced about two years ago. It was a little sad when we were there with Mia--she cried pretty hard when they put the earrings in. In the back of my mind, I wondered if, on any level, Lucy was recalling any of that day. She didn't seem to. Anyway, they did a great job with Mia, so I figured they would do a good job with Lucy.
Lucy has always been a fan of earrings and other jewelry. She also loves make-up and purses and sunglasses. When I started potty training Lucy in earnest, I decided that I would use every tool in my belt, so to speak--and when I made up her sticker chart, I made it clear that the goal would be earrings (like Mommy's). She was pretty excited about the idea, so I think my plan worked. She is pretty much all done potty training (huge sigh of relief). I say that because in the past four days, she has had only one accident and the past couple of nights, she has had a dry pull-up.
I have had some mixed feelings about the earrings. Part of me feels bad about doing it so young. The other part of me feels fine--it's cute and she wants the earrings and it's not really a big deal. I'm not sure if the people in the jewelry store feel like its a big deal or not. When I walked in the shop with Lucy and told them that she was there to get her ears pierced, they seemed a little reluctant. I think that's a good thing, actually. I might run away if I walked into a place that seemed over-eager. I imagine that piercing a little girl's ears is usually followed closely with crying and tears.
I warned Lucy that getting earrings would hurt (maybe a little, maybe a lot). She still wanted to go through with it, and even described the earrings she had in mind.
"What kind of earrings do you want, Lucy?" Sometimes a trip to the potty can be facilitated by indirectly reminding a potty-trainee of his or her goals.
"Pink ones, like Megan." Lucy thinks further on the subject and then elaborates, "Diamonds!" After a few seconds more to imagine her pink diamond earrings, Lucy touches her ears and says, "Flowers."
I explained that we could only get one pair at first, but then maybe we could find some flowers later. Imagine my surprise when we found the perfect pair of "diamond" flower earrings with a pink center stone at the jewelry store! I was pretty excited about finding Lucy's dream earrings--making a big deal about the little flower-shapes, the five white stones set around the pink center one. Lucy wasn't surprised in the least. She just affirmed that, yes, she would like the pink diamond flower earrings.
After we selected the earrings and after I signed a waiver (yes, really), I held Lucy on my lap while they marked her ears. Aunt Monica sat on a stool a few feet away and held her pink poodle purse. There were a few other customers in the shop and a bit of tension -- we had a small audience waiting to see how Lucy would handle it. After we checked the marks in the mirror to make sure they were what we wanted, a man and a teenage girl each held a piercing gun to one of Lucy's ears. I told Lucy that she could count to three and they would pierce her ears.
We counted together for one and two, but everyone was quiet when Lucy said "three." She jumped a little in my lap, and that was it. Lucy the champ.
She was wide-eyed and a slightly stunned while we hovered around her reminding her to breathe and telling her how beautiful the earrings were, then showed her the mirror again. She was pretty happy about it.
Lucy is proud of the earrings she earned by going through her mother's potty training boot camp. She has been working on her story-telling skills by recounting the story to most anybody who shows interest. She says it didn't hurt, shaking her head and looking very serious. Lucy is currently at Grandma Tayler's house with her daddy, showing off her new earrings. She has also asked her daddy for a necklace.
