Lucy Gets Her Ears Pierced - August 14, 2013

Lucy had been wanting to get her ears pierced for months. Brandon and I didn't have strong feelings about her NOT getting her ears pierced (even though Brandon's mom never had her ears pierced) so we figured that we could use it as positive reinforcement (aka: bribe). It seems like such a coming of age ritual although I can't remember how old I was when I had my ears pierced. We told Lucy she could get her ears pierced if she saved up her own money for it and also if she could earn $20 in play money from her rewards chart (5 tokens equals $1 but $1 could "buy" a tv show or $2 could "buy" a movie for the day so it was easy for those play dollars to go fast).

The real money wasn't hard to earn - she had about $60 of birthday money saved up (cause she doesn't really know how to use real money yet) and it's a good thing she had that much because it costs A LOT to get your ears pierced now. We brought her to Claire's (cause where else do you go) and of course, she wanted the more expensive pink studs and it cost $56!! I swear, when I got my ears pierced, it only cost about $8, maybe $12.

The workers there were prepared with a stuffed animal for Lucy to hold on to for comfort.

She was a little apprehensive because we kept telling her that getting your ears pierced hurts but she still wanted to do it.

Putting on a brave face.

Rowe waiting so patiently in his stroller.

The suspense is killing me!

And Olive too!

I almost thought she would chicken out...

Here she is getting her ears cleaned before they marked the skin.

And here she is with her new earrings and McDonald's ice cream as a treat for being so brave.

A closer look...

And a silly face!

I'm so glad that Emily got video of the whole thing. I love Lucy's reaction when it finally happens and am amazed that she didn't cry! Looking back, I wish I had checked with her pediatrician first to see if they offered ear piercing services but it ended up that they didn't. However, when I told her how much we paid at Claire's, she thought that maybe they should start offering the service. But the girl at Claire's was great and I'm happy that Lucy set a goal (of earning money for it) and achieved it.