My little girl, Lavender is an angel. I adore this child more than words can say. I’m so proud to call her my own, and I’m proud to have raised her as a independent and compassionate little person.
So, when it came time to ask her whether she was ready to join the big girl ranks and get her ears pierced, I was excited to hear her answer. I’ve raised my kids in such a way that I try to give them as much self-reliance as is appropriate for each of their stages that they go through. So, when it’s time to give them full reign over making certain decisions for themselves, I trust them whole-heartedly and support them completely.
When my daughter, Lavender, turned 8 years old, it seemed like a good time to offer her the decision of whether she wanted to pierce her ears. Her best friend, Aurora, had actually just pierced her ears so the timing was great, and of course, Lavender wanted to be just like her best friend. Making this right of passage at 8 years old seemed like a great time for her to take further ownership of her little body and decide how she wanted to care for it.
The day of getting her ears pierced ended up turning into more of a run-around than we had hoped for. The area that we live in didn’t seem to have any Claire’s boutiques nearby. But after driving around for a while and finally just googling the issue until we found a solution, we ended up at the Beverly Center in West Hollywood where they did, indeed, have a Claire’s.
She was such a good sport. I know that millions of little girls do this everyday, and it’s really not THAT big of a deal, but I love using these unique moments to witness how my kids will react to anxiety and give them tools for how to cope with it in a positive fashion – pun intended. Knowing how to handle oneself in small, yet challenging situations can often translate into building tools for how to handle the bigger and more challenging circumstances that inevitably come up later in their lives.
When we got there, Lavender was pretty unsure of what to expect. After signing off on all of the paperwork and watching the attendants place the dots on her ears, the moment of having the pair of Claire’s ear piercing girls standing over her, with their ear piercing guns pointed at her head, was kind of intense for all of us. But I could see Lavender calming herself down as much as possible, staying still and trying to take deep breaths to stay relaxed just before they pulled their triggers.
Then, POOF it was over … and her ears were pierced! But as is to be expected, that’s right when the red hot stinging sensation throbbed into her earlobes. She sucked in her little cheeks until her face looked like a tiny blond-haired fish. I knew that this was her way of coping with the stinging discomfort that hit her at that second. I reminded her to keep breathing and I showered her with praise for being so brave. I was so proud of how she dealt with the situation, and she definitely looked so very cute with the brand new earrings! I wasn’t expecting for the children’s earrings that she chose to look nearly as good as they did on her, but it made me that much more excited to share with her all of the other children’s earrings styles that I have in my green jewelry collection.
About a month ago, I crossed paths with my photographer friend Elijah Star. As a favor, he took some shots of Lavender now that she’s made it through the healing process after the ear piercing. Lavender chose to wear the Blue Belly Spiders from the Rebekah Green Jewelry collection that day. Since all of my children’s earrings are made of 100% 14 Karat recycled gold, not only can I offer my daughter the highest quality pure gold earrings, but I can rest easy knowing that the earrings are also nickel-free and hypoallergenic for her delicate little ears.
Making this right of passage together was such a great experience for both of us, and although piercing a child’s ears is a completely personal experience for every family, we both got more out of the day than we were expecting. We wish you the best with your green fashion right of passage as well!
