Mom to Mom

[FastDogWalker2]

13 - had it done at a department store at the local mall in the '70's.

[Duckncover]

My mother would not allow me to get my my ears pierced; she thought it was a barbaric and terrible thing to do. Two days after I got back from my honeymoon I went to the mall and had the visiting "piercing person" do it. I was in my 20's.  Drs.did not do ear-piercing then, just places like Piercing Pagoda at the mall. Mine were done at a dept store. I let my daughters get their ears pierced when they asked...as long as it was over age 12. They showed no interest until high school. All different times. Fortunately none of the, wanted more than one piercing in each ear or anywhere else...that would have been a thumbs-down from me.

I have had to make sure and keep an earring in my right earlobe during the lockdown; it was closing;  I guess due to not wearing any for so long during the lockdown. I wouldn't even know where to go to get it re-pierced

[GoneButNotForgotten]

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I got mine pierced at 6 months old by my pediatrician, as did my mother, my grandmother, etc.  I got my daughter's done in the same fashion, much to my MIL's chagrin!  

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Tough totems; she's your child and YOU make these decisions. If your MIL doesn't like it....well, like my mother used to say, she can get glad in the same clothes she got mad in.

[GoneButNotForgotten]

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@millieshops wrote:

i was a married adult.  Had piercing at a local jewelry.  DH called the whole process barbaric, but didn’t comment once I went ahead with it.

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He sounds like a very intelligent guy! :-)

[Tinkerbell3]

13 at the mall- I don't like pierced ears on little children. Thankfully, my youngest, age 8, hasn't asked! 

[JeanLouiseFinch]

I have several ear piercings. I started in my teens, got a few more in my forties, and finished up with 4 more ear and 1 nose last year.  Technically, my first ones  were done by a girlfriend. They ended up getting infected.  After they healed, I got them done at my doctor's office. The next set were done by the gal who used to do my hair.  My recent ones were done earlier this year by a friend who had a piercing business. 

[Msfitness]

@SloopJohnB  I was 3 years old and a friend of the family did it the old fashioned way.

[SloopJohnB]

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@Duckncover wrote:

My mother would not allow me to get my my ears pierced; she thought it was a barbaric and terrible thing to do. Two days after I got back from my honeymoon I went to the mall and had the visiting "piercing person" do it. I was in my 20's.  Drs.did not do ear-piercing then, just places like Piercing Pagoda at the mall. Mine were done at a dept store. I let my daughters get their ears pierced when they asked...as long as it was over age 12. They showed no interest until high school. All different times. Fortunately none of the, wanted more than one piercing in each ear or anywhere else...that would have been a thumbs-down from me.

I have had to make sure and keep an earring in my right earlobe during the lockdown; it was closing;  I guess due to not wearing any for so long during the lockdown. I wouldn't even know where to go to get it re-pierced

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@Duckncover   Just curious, when you say Drs. did not do ear-piercing then.....when was this?  I'm no spring chicken, so if even my grandmother got hers done by a doctor, I'm wondering how far back are you saying that they didn't do it?

[NicksmomESQ]

When I was 9 I asked my mom to please take me to have my ears pierced. She took me to the pediatrician to have it done. About 3 years later I took my earrings out overnight & the holes closed up!! So at 12 mom took me back & my ears were pierced again. No issues since.

[gizmogal]

This is the family story of how I got pierced ears:

When I got to about age 3 or so my tonsils were quite problematic, often infected and interfering with my happy childhood. Way back in the early 50's it was very common for parents to arrange for their kids to have their tonsils removed with no second thoughts. Let's skip debate about the wisdom of tonsillectomy for very young children. It's not common now so there must be better treatments. 

So my brother, older by just a year, and I get wheeled into the surgical suite of a nearby doctor's practice for this outpatient procedure. As an aside, my brother had no tonsil problems at all!  But I guess my parents didn't want to go through this twice. We both were having tonsillectomies. 

An attendant wheeled me in to the OR and just outside the door my mother handed the surgeon a pair of facet-cut gold hoops, quite small. She told him, "When she comes out, I want  her wearing these."!  She wasn't asking. The surgeon drew himself up indignantly and told my mother, "Madam, I'm a surgeon! I don't pierce ear lobes."! My mother said, "You'll have her anesthetized. She won't feel it and she'll feel special having earrings to show off for this ordeal". He took out my tonsils and he pierced my ears and I went home wearing those earrings. My brother lost his tonsils, too, but got no earrings for his troubles. Extra ice cream for him. 

I still have my toddler facet cut hoops in my jewelry box. I'm 73 years old and my mother is gone more than 20 years. Knowing the story, I admire her tenacity with that surgeon. She was a pretty practical thinker.