Katie got her ears pierced last summer. She was eight years old. We went over all the beforehand stuff about how important it was going to be for her to clean her ears regularly, to only wear certain types of earrings, etc. I thought she was probably a little young, but with our help she’d do just fine.
And she did do just fine, for the first few weeks. Then came the first infection. She screamed bloody murder as I tried to clean it for her. Right after, she got better about cleaning around the holes, twisting the earrings, and then must have gotten lazy again. 
She was afraid to tell us if her ear lobe got tender and/or puffy, so by the time we’d see it for ourselves, it’d gotten quite infected. It got to where she didn’t like us to even look at her ear lobes for fear we’d decide they were infected and put her through the torture of cleaning them.
As I told her every time, there was no reason to scream like that. I had occasional infections when my ears were first pierced, and I knew how much it hurt. But it didn’t hurt THAT much. The girl has always had an extremely low pain threshold. A tiny scratch gets her panicked and hyperventilating. A real wound makes her cry so hard, it’s almost impossible to get her calmed. I remember being a little like that at her age, but when I started getting headaches in high school, I learned to deal with pain more like a normal person.
I made Katie a necklace this evening, and when she pulled her hair up so I could clasp it, I noticed one of her earrings was falling out. When I looked closer I saw that her lobe was so swollen it had enveloped the stud. Although it was painful, the earring came out the back of her lobe easily, along with lots of other goo and blood. Katie immediately started freaking out. I sent her upstairs to get her ear cleaning solution, and decided with Vic that we’d had enough of the earrings. They were coming out.
There was no argument from Katie. She’s tired of it all too.
I’m so disappointed. I’m discouraged with Katie for not taking care of her ears better, but I know the blame for that is ultimately mine. I’m frustrated at the way she deals with discomfort and concerned that if it doesn’t eventually improve, she’ll be spending a lot of her lifetime in hysterics. And I’m also just plain bummed out that we gave up on this thing that made her so proud just a few months ago.
I'm sorry, sweetie. Parenting can be hard. :( xoxo
ReplyDeleteOh, bummer. Don't beat yourself up over it, though. She'll learn to suck it up, over time. And next time she pierces her ears, she'll be in a better space to take care of them without your oversight. Maybe there's a reason we all waited until we were good and old before we did that deed? (Other than that whole parents-will-kill-us thing...)
ReplyDeleteWatching from the parental sidelines can be tough sometimes, eh? We had middle-school-meltdown here this week, so I can totally relate!
Well there's no guarantee that the holes will disappear. The two holes in my left ear, that I did myself in college, are still there. Even though I haven't had an earring in either one of them for about 15 years... Or maybe it's just more proof of my alien DNA?
ReplyDeleteI had a similar problem the first time I got my ears pierced. I was clearly too young and didn't take care of them - they got infected, it got ugly, it left a scar when I took them out - one scar is still there in one ear. I eventually got them re-pierced and still have problems with them sometimes and still wonder why I pierced them at all - I only wear one small pair of earrings, I never show them off - never change them out for another pair. They are kind of just pierced to be pierced and I pretty much ignore them. I don't think it's for everybody - aside from the novelty, it's not something you need.
ReplyDeleteI got my ears pierced when I was 19, I think when I was sort-of dating a guy who wanted me to get my ears pierced. I had a heck of a time keeping them in without problems, so it didn't take long for me to give up on the idea. The indentations still show on my little ear lobes, which, of course, now show more than ever. The girls haven't asked to have theirs done yet, and I'm glad. Though, Akasha has mentioned to me a few times about shaving her head, and has now decided (maybe) to go for a short cut instead.
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