Ear Piercing

Caroline has wanted her ears pierced for a very very long time. Matt and I have not really wanted her to get them pierced. She wasn't happy about it, but had accepted it until Decmber of last year when she thought her cousin Abigail (who is 5) was going to get her ears pierced for her 5th birthday. Caroline was distraught at the thought that Abigail would get them done and she couldn't. So we talked about it, and talked about it, and talked about it some more.

Then Abigail decided not to get hers pierced and Matt and I were able to push the conversation off. Until....Caroline's best friend Kaely got hers pierced for her 8th birthday. Caroline went with her to see them get pierced and she came home convinced that hers should be pierced too.

We finally decided that if she showed us she was responsible (keeping her room clean, going to bed on her own, doing what we asked without complaining (for the most part)) then she could get them pierced before school started.

Well...school was about to start and Caroline had made a lot of improvements in showing responsibility so she invited a few friends to watch her get them pierced.

Waiting for it to start.

Close up on the un-pierced ears

Getting ready--she is pretty nervous at this point.

She has her hair pinned back andthe marks are on her ears--the last moment before they pierce them. (Kaely took these pictures because Caroline wanted me to hold her hands)

All Done! It wasn't as bad as she thought.

Cleaning up

The "after" shot

We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for ice cream to celebrate. Abigail just wanted a cup of water (wouldn't that be nice to actually want water more than ice cream!)
If I was worried about Caroline not being old enough to take care of cleaning her ears, I was mistaken--Caroline is very very conscious of cleaning her ears and turning the earrings and doing everything she needs to. She is so happy to have them pierced and shows anyone who will stop and look :)