Ear piercing

Bradyn needed to quit sucking her thumb and so we tried and tried to find some reward that would be good enough to entice our strong-willed daughter that it would make her want to try to stop sucking her thumb. We tried everything...and I (mommy) also prayed that God would give me the right idea. So, one day the idea came to me, from the Lord, that she could get her ears pierced. That was the right idea. She was totally into that. We made a chart for her that she put a start on every morning when she woke up if she made it through the night without sucking her thumb. At the end of one month she got to go to Tube Time. At the end of 2 months she got a new computer game, and at the end of 3 months she got to get her ears pierced. She did AWESOME! We are so proud of her!!!!!!!! One month came and went, two months came and went, and 3 months came last week.

So, Steve was out of town and I decided that the first day of his absence needed something special to get us through the day. Against my better judgement and all of my 7 1/2 years of "mommy wisdom", I suggested that we all go to the mall so that Bradyn can get her ears pierced. They were thrilled with the idea. So, at 10 am we headed out. (We had talked about what it would feel like...a little pinch, kind of like a shot, but that it would not last. ) So, we get to the store and she picks out her earrings but they couldn't do it right then because they needed to wait for the other person to get there so they could do both ears at the same time. I thought this was a good idea. So, we go have lunch and head back about 12:30 pm. She gets up in the chair, chatting away, one employee was getting everything sanitized etc., it was quite the process. When she is ready she waits for the other employee to finish up with other customers and motions her over. She goes through the whole sanitizing process (2-3 minutes) and they both try to discreetly grab their guns and walk over behind Bradyn.

Well, she panics and starts screaming, Julia starts screaming and this begins one of the worst episodes in my mothering career. I get her down, have Kamryn take Julia outside the store (the windows are glass so I can see them), and try to calm her down. (Picture lots and lots of customers in the store...some waiting to buy things while the two employees are tied up with my crying daughter.) I finally decided that we will take a walk and try to calm down. I'm telling her she doesn't need to do this if she doesn't want to but she really wants to do it. She's saying she wants to come back tomorrow and I'm saying that we can't come tomorrow. Anyway, we walk around and do some other shopping for 30 minutes or so and go back.

She's all pumped up and ready to go. When we got there another little girls is in the chair. (She looks to be about 10.) We stood outside and waited while she got hers done for about 1/2 hour....(they were very busy and needed both gals again.) Anyway, Bradyn talked to the little girl afterward who had the same earrings that she wanted and she assured Bradyn that it wasn't that bad. I'm feeling hopeful at this point. So, I sit down in the chair, Bradyn on my lap, and the whole process starts again. Sterilizing, waiting, etc. They try again, Bradyn panics and screams. I tell her we are going to go home, and she freaks out because she doesn't want to leave. They stand and wait while this is all going on, customers lining up glaring at me, probably thinking I'm trying to force my daughter to do something she doesn't want to do. I'm getting very tired and frustrated. One employee goes back to the customers and the other stands and waits for me to figure out what we're doing. I get out of the chair to go home and Bradyn pushes me back to the chair, crying that she doesn't want to leave, etc. This went on for a few more minutes....I lost track but I think the other lady came over one more time. Kamryn and Julia are very tired of waiting for Bradyn and Kamryn comes in crying, "Why won't you just let them do it Bradyn? Please!" Julia is very ready to go and so I decide to pick up my screaming daughter and head out of the mall.

So, I'm carrying my screaming 5 year old, Kamryn (still crying) is pushing my crying 3 year old and we have to parade through the mall out to our car. Of course, I get in the car and burst into tears which makes Bradyn feel very bad. It was 3:00pm, a long day considering we started at 10:00pm.

So, we get home and talk it through and Bradyn asks me when I got my ears pierced. I told her I was in 9th grade. So, now she wants to wait until 9th grade. FINE WITH ME!!! Wasn't this a great way to begin our 10 days without dad?

But, I still wanted her to have a reward since she did such a great job with her thumb sucking so she picked out a special doll from a catalog that she is very excited about.