As Stella approached her fifth birthday, she began talking about wanting to get her ears pierced. I was open to the idea, and started showing her videos of the process so she could wrap her head around it. When she turned five, she said, “I’m going to wait until I’m six.” But in the last month or two, she started bringing it up again, and didn’t seem spooked by the idea anymore.
I knew that no matter when we ended up taking her to get her ears pierced, we would be going to a professional piercer. It seems like a strange juxtaposition, a young girl and a tattoo and piercing studio; but in doing my research, there were so many reasons why this decision made the most sense. This is a great read from TIME, and here’s another one from Scary Mommy.
Tattoo and piercing studios go to great lengths to make sure everything is done in a safe, clean, and informative environment. For piercings, a needle is used instead of the piercing gun commonly found at places at the mall. One big problem about those piercing guns: they can’t actually be sterilized. And there is also the question of piercing experience.
Now look, I have five holes in my ears that came from Claire’s at the mall, just like almost any other person my age with pierced ears. That even includes my upper cartilage on one ear. It was the norm, and seemed safe and easy. I was fortunate to not have any complications with my ear piercings. I have also heard enough horror stories about the piercing guns that it was important to me to choose the safest option for our daughter.
And that was a tattoo shop. Continue reading “Getting Stella’s ears pierced at a tattoo and piercing studio”