Yes, I'm harping on about piercings again.
DD2 went to a lovely birthday party over the weekend - there was sunshine, bouncy castle and cake - what more could a three year-old ask for?
As I looked around at the other children, I noticed that quite a few of the girls (ranging from around 2 months to 4 years) all had their ears pierced. I was a little surprised by this. I know in some cultures, it is customary to pierce baby girl's earrings when they are still tiny, but this is not something I had seen quite so "en masse" in this country before.
I'm guessing the main reason that people do this is that they think it looks pretty. Maybe there is also a certain amount of "getting it over with" when they are young - after all, if they are going to have them done at some point, why not just do it straight away?
You may have guessed that the very fact that I am writing this post means I am not a fan of pierced ears on very young children. To me, having ears pierced has always meant a certain rite of passage - it is something I associate with growing up, and I therefore just think it looks strange. I personally also remember the discomfort associated with first having my ears pierced - not something I would necessarily wish on a baby.
Finally, to me there is something somehow wrong about a baby wearing jewellery (somehow these piercings often seem to go hand in hand with bracelets etc) - I can't even really qualify what it is, maybe it is the fact that I am just not really that used to it. If I had grown up elsewhere, maybe I wouldn't even notice (I seem to recall seeing it more often in France, for example, and I know it can be common on the Indian subcontinent.)
Besides, what are they going to rebel about, when they are older?!
