An end of innocence

For Lauren's birthday she wanted to get her ears pierced. After some thought and consideration, we agreed. As excited as I was for her to get her ears pierced, there was a part of me that didn't want to let that innocence go. Wearing real earrings is just one step closer to being older, more mature. One more step away from the innocence of childhood. A clear sign that my little baby girl is growing up. But, my feelings aside, we headed to the mall. Lauren was so excited.

Upon arriving at the jewelry store in the mall, there was another girl ahead of us waiting to get her ears pierced. She was bouncing off the walls with excitement (literally). I asked Lauren if she wanted to watch this little girl get her ears pierced and she said 'yes'. This will be great, I thought to myself. Lauren can watch this little girl get her ears pierced so when her turn comes she won't be scared. As the little girl hopped into the chair and the lady started prepping her for the piercing, she started to freak out. FREAK OUT. Like weeping and whaling and gnashing of teeth. I'm not even kidding. My great idea of 'let's watch this little girl get her ears pierced' went crashing out the window. I tried my best to divert Lauren's attention so that this little girl didn't completely freak her out. After 15 minutes of the freak out, and the lady and mother doing all they could to calm this girl down, she ended up not going through with the piercing. What a great example.

Now, Lauren's turn. After the freak out girl, I was not sure how Lauren would do. Keep in mind my reservations of the whole innocence thing. Lauren hopped up in the chair. She picked out the earrings she wanted. The lady marked her ears then asked me to ok the marks. 'Looks good,' I said. She called another worker over to help. Lauren held my hand, we counted to three and, click, it was done. Just like that. No drama, no stress, no crying. Lauren was so excited to finally have her ears pierced. In the 2 minutes she was in the chair she even drew a crowd of mall on-lookers watching 'the cute girl with the long hair getting her ears pierced'. I was so proud of Lauren. She was so brave, tough, and strong!! Especially after watching the freak out girl. Not once did she say she was nervous or scared. I really learned a lot about Lauren during the short 2 minutes that she sat in the chair to get her ears pierced. I asked her if it hurt. She said no. Meanwhile, the freak out girl was still freaking out. I told Lauren to go tell her that it didn't hurt. She did. It didn't help.

All the way home in the car Lauren kept saying,"I can't believe I have my ears pierced." I was really happy for her. Now that a few weeks have passed, I still feel a twinge in my heart that a little innocence is gone. It didn't help that 2 days after the ear piercing I wake up to Lauren tapping me on the shoulder saying,"Mom, I have my first loose tooth." Sigh

Before

The crowd

After