On June 20th, 2005 (Father's Day), I took my daughter to the mall to get her ear's pierced.  She wanted earrings for her 6th birthday and was so excited about it we decided to take her in to have it done.  What a mistake that turned out to be.  So, I felt I would pen this accounting of the days events as a cautionary note to other parents of precocious yet cowardly 6 year olds? 

     The local Claire's Boutique does free ear piercing if you just buy the studs. They also supply a bottle of the after care solution for the 6 weeks post-piercing. I have to admit, I didn't think this would be such a big deal. I had my ear pierced when I was in college and my niece, two months older than my daughter, had just had her ears pierced and did not seem all that traumatized by it.

      Kaitlyn picked out her earrings and the lady marked where they would go. I then asked 'do you have two guns?? The answer was "No." My first instinct was to pull the plug right there because I feared she would get the first ear done, pitch a screaming fit, and then we would have a battle to get the second ear done and complete the set. With two guns, both piercing could be done simultaneously and it would all be over. My beautiful little girl was so excited I could not bring myself to hit the brakes this close to completion. So I agreed to proceed.

    Daddy should a stuck to his hunches, they were bang-on.

      After the first ear was done she screamed and cried. It then took three adults to talk her into finishing it. We offered to take the first one out and call it a day, but she wanted to keep that one. She was just scared to get the second one. We told her she had to have all or none. She wanted both done but was too scared to sit for it. She screamed, kicked, cried, yelled, bellowed, and shrieked. The way she carried on you would have thought we were giving her an appendectomy with a spoon and no anesthesia!

      Finally, she cuddled up to my chest, I held her head against me, and the deed was done. My ears are still ringing from the sound that came out of that child's mouth. By God she can make some noise.

     So, now it's done and we are struggling with the aftercare. As I have demonstrated that I don't have the patience for a 6 year old's unreasonable fears, my wonderful wife has taken the lead. I have already made it known that if they get infected because she isn't taking care of them, they come out and she has to wait until she can sign for herself to have them done again. I mean it, too.

     Trying to make my little girl happy turned this Father's Day into one of the most horrid days I have had in a long time. My wife made a wonderful meal and we spent some time together talking and sipping gin and tonic, but overall I went to bed spent and depressed.

     So, to all you dads out there, if you agree to let your young daughter get her ears pierced and the boutique doesn't have the means to do both ears simultaneously, walk back out the door and find another one. You can at least spare yourself the embarrassment and spectacle of a freaked out first grader. If your daughter is braver than mine feel free to take your chances, but don't say you that were never warned!

Franklyn D. Garland
The Celtic Knot