Yves Velter, Sussurro, 2011, Watou
Little H. had her ears pierced today. I still remember how bad I felt when we finally agreed on big girl M. having her ears pierced. What kind of a mom was I to let someone make holes in her perfect little earlobes! But I also remember how happy she'd been and how she would keep on looking in the mirror, feeling big, proud, happy.
Big girl M. was seven, back then - little H. just turned 8 last month. So telling her she was still too young for it no longer worked. She'd been asking about it, on and off, for quite a while, but we managed to keep it off - until now, that is. Since she seemed really serious about it this time, we decided to just go ahead - just get it over with - before school and sports activities - swimming! - start again.
So, today was the big day. And all went well
- eventually!
For a moment it looked like she'd go home with just one ear pierced, and a tiny black dot on the other, totally in shock as she was about how painful it was. I sort of expected that to happen, my own experience as a kid in mind, but had given her the benefit of the doubt. I had my ears done at age 11 at a fair, and the store keeper saw his sales figures plummet considerably that afternoon, thanks to all the noise I made. Unmistakeably, little H. takes after her mom... It took us a lot of effort, pep talk and even more to convince her to do the other ear as well, the poor little thing. And she did - eventually.
And as it goes, half an hour later she just felt big and proud and happy with her little lady bug earrings... She forgot about the tears: she had her ears pierced! (No) big deal!