A Major Milestone for Scout

Scout reached a major milestone today. She got her ears pierced!

Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal, but in our family it is. We don't allow our girls to get their ears pierced until they are 8 years old (or nearly 8). Mostly I want them to be old enough to make the decision and then be able to take care of the cleaning and turning of each earring.

We haven't always had that rule. Teach was only 4 when she had hers pierced, but that was because we allowed the Drama Queen to have hers done at 6. Then it was me trying to take care of the two new sets of earrings. That's when we made the new rule and it has worked well for the next 4 daughters. We let it happen a couple of months before they turn 8 so they can wear cute earrings for their birthday.

So today we found ourselves in the mall down in Provo. I'll tell you how that came to be later, but we were sitting in the food court, eating corn dogs and Cheetos when I happened to spy the Claires just a few doors down. Since Scout's birthday isn't until November, I probably should have had her wait another month, but since we were there, I casually mentioned that it might be a fun activity.

Scout was totally shocked! I'm pretty sure she was planning to have her ears pierced, she just hadn't gotten around to thinking too much about it yet. We finished our dinner and decided to walk over to Claires and check it out, just in case.

When we walked in the door, she was still pretty nervous, but after perusing the hundreds of pairs of cute earrings dangling from nearly every display, she finally climbed up into the big chair. Dad and the kids wished her well and headed out the door. They really didn't want to watch, and quite frankly, we didn't want the distraction either. Only the Dog Walker remained with us.

She chose a tiny silver star pair and waited nervously while I filled out the paperwork. She kept asking me if it would hurt, a perfectly normal thing in her situation. I assured her that it was just a little pinch for only a moment and that they would tingle afterward. She gripped the arms of the chair until her knuckles were white. The cute salesgirl marked each ear with a purple marker, but she wasn't happy with it and marked them again. When she was finally satisfied, she sought my approval.

Scout was unprepared for the "gun" and the girl quickly assured her that it wasn't really a gun, that's just what they called them, but I think the name is pretty appropriate. She loaded the earrings. I stood close to Scout and took her hand. She braced herself for the count...1...2...3...CLICK!

Her face clouded over, but before she could really react, the other one was in. "That hurt!" she insisted as she jumped down from the chair. I let her choose 3 cards of earrings as the second part of her birthday gift. By the time we were all finished paying and out in the mall again looking for Dad and the kids, she was her usual happy self. She could hardly wait to show her sisters!

I wish all milestones could be that easy.