Ears pierced!

I don't remember if I blogged about the first attempt at ear piercing.  Back in the winter sometime, Kendra's good friend R was getting her ears pierced and invited us to come along for the big occasion.  Kendra asked if she could get hers done, too, and after much discussion it was a go for her, too.  R went first and was a trooper--no tears!  It was Kendra's turn and all of the sudden she was in full-out panic mode.  I was calm, tried to reason with her, and told her she didn't have to go through with anything she was uncomfortable doing.  R kept telling her it really didn't hurt.  The big problem was that Kendra kept waffling.  She would gather up her courage, sit in the chair, then freak out.  Then she'd get out of the chair, calm down, repeat.  Soon I lost patience and let's just say I did  NOT win Mom of the Year.  As we left, I told her we were not going to do that ever again.  If and when she decided to get her ears pierced, she would have to go through with it even if I had to sit on her to get it done!!!  She decided that she would get it done as a birthday gift from my mom when we were in Michigan in the summer. 

Fast forward to July, and she could hardly wait---so much so that we ended up going to get them done the first week we were in Michigan though her birthday isn't until July 24th.  A big part of the deal was that Kendra wanted to have her cousins there for moral support.  In fact, it was their hands she wanted to hold throughout the process--not mine!  Can't say I blame her since I did threaten the whole "sitting on you" thing!  We went to Claire's, of course, and the kicker was that when we got there, only one associate was on staff and so she couldn't do the double piercing for several hours (the kind when two people pierce both ears at the same time so you only get the pain once).  I thought for sure Kendra would back out knowing that she'd have to get one done, then the other.  What if it hurt so bad that she didn't want to do the other one?  She said she didn't want to have to keep her cousins waiting so she'd just do it!  She picked a really pretty little sparkly flower earring and was a champ!  The only issue was the associate....man, was she a Chatty Cathy!  She didn't seem to pick up on the fact that Kendra was nervous, and she kept talking and talking and talking, which made her pause a LOT in her prepping the supplies to pierce.  My mom and I both wanted to tell her to be quiet and get on with it!!! 

Waiting for the lady to stop talking and get on with it already

The moral support team!

Ouch number one.

Ouch number two--she didn't cry, this is just the "ouchie" face

Pretty!