Ear Piercing Extravaganza

Mimi & Girls at The Piercing Pagoda

My daughter has been asking to get her hears pierced for a long time. She turned seven this week so I decided it was time.
I was nine and thought I had to wait too long. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was 1979 and my mom drove me in the cherry red & wood paneled station wagon to a store called Ayr-Way (now Target). It was a thrilling experience to sit in the special chair and feeling the sting of the staple-gun contraption piercing the gold balls in my ears.  My little sister watched in awe as well.

Fast forward to 2010. My daughter and I drive an hour to a fancy mega-mall to meet my mom, my sister and her seven year old daughter. Our daughters are so very close and love to experience life together.

My mom arrived first to scout out our options. We were thinking Claire's Boutique was the place but it was crowded with only one teenage girl working. In front of Claire's, my mom discovered The Piercing Pagoda where you buy the earrings and get piercing for free. It was clean, quiet and a sweet woman was working there. The girls picked out sparkling flowers with gold posts.

My daughter "Phoebe Fireball" went first. My mom, sister, and I hovered like mother hens making sure the dots were in the center of her lobes. I held one hand and "Sweet Lee-Lee" held the other. "Click" went the piercing gun and Phoebe's eyes got wide with shock and pain as she fought back tears to be brave and strong. We cheered. Click went the other sparkling purple flower. It was done. She was thrilled and gazed proudly at her red lobes that sparkled.

Lee-Lee went next. Same mother/grandmother/aunt hovering. Her lobes were smaller so we had to have the nice lady re-do the dots a few times. Lib and Phoebe held her hands. Click! Lee-Lee felt the pain and the tears rolled down her cheeks. We cheered her on. Click again as the final pink flower pierced her ear. Done. Hooray!

They stood together looking at each other proudly and then gazed into the mirror. A special time they will always remember. They did it together.

After all the energy it took out of us we decided to end the excitement with lunch at the food court. A fun girls day for all!

Lee-Lee & Phoebe with sparkling earrings!