My daughter wants her ears pierced. She's 5 years old. She's been asking, on and off, for the past year or so.
She asked again last night. I responded, in that most-classic of parent ways, "Someday."
To which she responded, "Saturday?"
Which is certainly someday. But a someday sooner than I'd like.
The truth is, I don't have an ear-piercing policy. I did not get my own pierced until I was 12, which seemed the norm in my suburban New York town way back when. I suppose I figured the same would hold true for any daughters of mine.
Of course, at some point, as a grownup, I realized that some parents view piercing infants ears as the norm and earrings for little girls as just par for the course.
Still I didn't expect that my preschooler would be asking for pierced ears. But she is. Some of her friends at school have them, and she lists their names for me. She tells me she thinks earrings are pretty. When I explain that the piercing would hurt, she shrugs that off (and I don't pursue that line of discussion because this is kid who shrugged off her 5-year-old vaccinations with a little "ow" and not a single tear).
I just think, well, isn't 5 a little young? I worry about infection and wonder if my baby really needs jewelry. I guess I'm not sure there isn't some benefit to waiting, to making pierced ears something to enjoy as a teenager, not a kindergartner.
I probably should have settled on a policy awhile ago (my brother had a "not until you're 12? rule for his daughter). But I didn't.
Did you? Pierce early? Make them wait? Or do your kids not see the attraction?
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