Ear Piercing Drama

Since last year...LAST YEAR...all Leah wanted for her 6th birthday was to get her ears pierced.  So, the day finally came and we all headed to the mall to, what we thought, would be a fun ear piercing experience.  It was NOT fun!  We got there, I filled out all the paperwork, we picked out her earrings, she jumped in the chair, the girls put the "gun" to her ears...and...she FREAKED!  And I don't mean she cried a little, she totally freaked out.  Like something took over my little gal and she became this person that we could NOT control.  We sat there for a good 20 minutes and we could not convince her to go through with doing what we came here to do.  It was horrible...for everyone.  So...we left...without her ears pierced.  Yet she cried the entire way home because she wanted them pierced?!?!?!  It was just horrible.  And I had NOT intentions of taking her back.  But she convinced us that she could do it, so we agreed to take her back again 4 days later.  

This time it was just me, Leah, and my mom.  I thought if we went on a weeknight and with fewer people, we would have a better experience.  I thought!  We got to the store and Leah was very confident that she was going to go through with it. Then she got in the chair...and the same thing happened. I could tell by her face that she was not going to do it. Oh no!!  Not again!!!  We tried and tried to convince her that it wouldn't hurt...and the gal that helped is was so great. Leah listened to her and let the girl *finally* just line up the gun...then...she pulled the trigger!!  Boom...one ear was done!  Hallelujah!!  And Leah even said it didn't hurt!  So you would think the next ear would be a piece of cake...guess again!!  She started to do the same thing and at this point it was ridiculous, mostly because she had one done and she knew it wasn't bad!  After 25 minutes of her refusing to let us do it, we were getting ready to leave. At this point I was pretty frustrated, and I think for good reason!  Then the gal came up to Leah with a blank piercing gun and asked her if she could just line it up to show it doesn't hurt. Leah agreed!! Then...that smart girl SWITCHED the guns, lined it up, and BOOM...pierced that other ear!!!  Leah didn't even flinch!  We were all "I told you so..."  I gave the girl a huge hug because it was a pretty traumatic experience for all!  Who knew that Leah would be so difficult...I didn't!  And I'm her mother!!  We hurried and payed and we were out of there. I was sad that this wasn't the best experience, but I was sure glad that it was over!!!  I was so hungry afterwards, so I took Leah to JCW's and we had dinner to cool down and to try and forget the drama of getting her ears pierced.

Of course, now she's as thrilled as can be that she went through with it. She's very diligent about cleaning them and looks forward to changing them out. Honestly, I can now see why people get their babies ears pierced...for real!!  I may be taking Kate sometime soon just to avoid this drama again!!!