My daughter (10) has been on at us to have her ears pierced ever since her best friend had hers done about 2 years ago.

I wasn’t particularly in favour of this, more because I’m not really into tats and piercings, but my wife was ok about it.

Anyway, I’ve made a deal with her, if she stops sucking her thumb for a month (a month being the length of time it generally takes to make or break a habit) then she can have her ears pierced for Christmas, short of buying one of the those rubber guards that cost a fortune we’ve tried everything to get her to stop, and this seems to have finally worked.

But have I set her on the slippery slope ?

£400 pair of Tiffany ear rings on the list too I presume? 😉

I’d say that, if she’s still young enough to be sucking her thumb, she’s too young to get her ears pierced.

here we go again…….. prepare for the backlash, time to get the coffee and biscuits out again.

Well that’s what I said to her, which prompted the deal, basically she saw me coming and outmaneuvered me.

My 34 year old sister had her ears pierced around 5 IIRC. At last check she doesn’t look anything like the pic if that might help set your mind at rest 🙂

phew 🙂

Well that’s what I said to her, which prompted the deal, basically she saw me coming and outmaneuvered me.

I’d happily swap thumb sucking for ear piercing. Don’t think it’s great, but you got the better end of the deal.

Well that’s what I said to her, which prompted the deal, basically she saw me coming and outmaneuvered me.

I’d be concerned about the fact you were outmaneuvered by a 10 year old!

Outmaneuvered by a 10 year old? A feeling depressingly familiar to a lot of us my friend.

How about “stop sucking your thumb until your 14th birthday, and then you can get your ears pierced”.

Speaking as a non-parent, but I was a child, even if I did manage to outfox either of my parents by some beautiful wordplay, strategic manouevring or political machinations with fellow siblings, they still held, and were quite willing to use, the “well, you’re not, so tough” veto. And if I tried the “that’s not fair” line, they trumped it with the “life’s not always fair, so you’ve learned a valuable lesson”.

And they were right. Bring back birching, kids today, national service would sort’em out, etc.

at least you waited till she was old enough to ask you.

I reckon it’s win-win, she doesn’t get bullied for sucking her thumb when she starts secondary school next year, and she get’s to hang out with the “hard” kids because she’s got her hoops in.

Can’t wait to see what habit she’s going to kick to get you to buy a car for her.

What IHN said … 😉 … maybe I’m old (fashioned even) about this stuff, but I would be saying teenage years at least. Suspect most reputable places will require adult consent for under 16s anyhow. And by putting it off you’ll be delaying those tiffany jewel request. Get tough now, think of the children ….!!

I reckon 8 A* GCSEs would do it 🙂

Spanish girls get their ears pierced at birth… Mine are half Spanish and the eldest had hers done at 10 too. Go for it, you’ll get used to being outmaneuvred fast enough.

The correct answer for a 10 year old is iPad/laptop….

Why not get her thumb pierced instead? Win win.

Spanish girls get their ears pierced at birth

Wait till you hear what happens to Jewish boys.

Ear piercing, meh, big fat hairy deal. They’ll close up if she changes her mind. Top tip, get a proper piercer with a needle, rather than a bloke on the market with a stud gun.

Cougar – Member

Ear piercing, meh, big fat hairy deal. They’ll close up if she changes her mind. Top tip, get a proper piercer with a needle, rather than a bloke on the market with a stud gun.All of that.

Stick to studs for school/play, hoops are OK for “going out”. Some schools will insist that any piercings are removed for gym, so make sure she’s happy doing it herself.

I think that my eldest was around that age when she had hers done.

She now has a huge collection of earrings, but they are all quite small and discrete.

We had our little Jordan’s ears pierced when she was 6months old. A girl needs to look good at any age OP.

meet her halfway and buy her an ipad

10? Wait until shes 12-13 with boys calling and her wearing ALOT of makeup 😉

The joys to come – 5 more years before my first asks :O

Holes closing up – my mum used to work at a girls young offender unit. Studs were banned so the girls threaded wool through the holes to keep them open. Cheap tip for a Xmas present?

boblo – Member

The correct answer for a 10 year old is iPad/laptop….

nice work bob 😉

Good luck with getting her to stop sucking her thumb my daughter is 22 and still sucks her thumb 😀

Good luck with getting her to stop sucking her thumb my daughter is 22 and still sucks her thumb

Argh, must resist. Must stop myself..

Wait till you hear what happens to Jewish boys Sudanese girls.

Will she have to remove them for school? It would be better to wait and have them done at the beginning of the summer holidays so they can heal properly before having to take them in and out.

Why stop at ear rings that will be forgotten about in a couple of months.
A tattoo is for life, if you choose a good design and artist it will be something you can both enjoy for many, many years.

I always wanted my ears pierced when I was young and my dad said I had to wait until I was 15. Coffee at 3? Fine! Earrings at 9? NO!

Eventually had them done when I was about 10 (it was definitely towards the end of primary school) at the same time my mother did. Hers got manky and infected (think she didn’t leave the studs in long enough), and I discovered that, like about 30% of women, I’m allergic to nickel, which meant cheapy earrings were out. Only proper silver and gold for me! The horror!

I wasn’t allowed cool 80s dangly earrings though, because my mom said they looked ‘common’! 😆

A tattoo is for life, if you choose a good design and artist it will be something you can both enjoy for many, many years

Surely if you’ve a fear of bullying then prison tats are where its at

And when looking for appropriate ear rings, you need to look for a style icon

Nick – Member
My daughter (10) has been on at us to have her ears pierced ever since her best friend had hers done about 2 years ago.

But have I set her on the slippery slope ?

Yes, because next time you need her to behave you need to dangle a reward infront of her and once she knows that you are in shite.

I don’t know how well behave is your daughter but I have a passive aggressive spoiled brat devil child in the form of my niece here with me, and she definitely knows how to twist her parents arms to get things done. Refused to go to school unless my sister chauffer her to school, breakfast needs to be on the table everyday or else she would not get up. Ocassionally missed school because she did not feel like going. So I blame my sister and bro-in-law for that … her life is revolved around Apple products … yes she got all of them at the mere age of 15 and more. £200 handbag! £100 UGG boots etc …

Kids are not meant to be spoiled they are to be dsiciplined.

Why stop at ear rings that will be forgotten about in a couple of months.
A tattoo is for life, if you choose a good design and artist it will be something you can both enjoy for many, many years.

I urge caution though. She probably likes Carebears or something similar. When shes 25 it won’t look that cool.

She probably likes Carebears or something similar. When shes 25 it won’t look that cool.

An everlasting reminder of an important life lesson then.

My mother wouldn’t let me get my ears pierced when I was 13, so me and a friend did it ourselves in the girls toilets at lunchtime with a sewing needle. And yes it hurt, and yes they did get infected and swell up like dumbo. Some of the best lessons in life are free, and all that.

Take her yourself to get it done, somewhere proper and sterile !

Although after that, my mother relented and took me to get mine done at the pharmacy so that was lesson number two, self mutilation as effective bargaining tactic…

Ha ha I helped a girl do hers like that Hels. Hurt like a bitch apparently. I had mine done when I was about 10, mum did it.

Mind you it is a slippery slope I’ve got 14 most in my ears but a tongue stud one in my left nip and a lip pericing which I’ve never really used

emsz – Member
<snip> I’ve got 14 most in my ears but a tongue stud one in my left nip

I bet they bloody hurt.

I did my ear with a needle at 15 and all was well until my Mum found out. That was the end of my career as a punk/anarchist 🙂