When my daughter was young we had a lot of ideas on the ‘rules’ of the house as she got older. We said she would never have a TV or phone in her room, no makeup until she was a teenager, etc. We also said that she couldn’t have her ears pierced until she could take care of the responsibility of caring and cleaning them herself. She was an infant so what was the big deal?

We fast forward a few years and this past weekend the conversation turned to how a few kids in her class had their ears pierced and she thought she was ready. We spoke about the process of how it’s done (they use needles) and how there will probably be a little pain. We talked about how the new earrings need to stay in for 6 weeks and how if she didn’t take care if them they could get infected. I pretty much used every scare tactic in my weak arsenal to guide her nit to do it but her resolve was too strong.

So in Monday night while I was out my wife and daughter headed over to our local Mall and found a place. And she was a trooper. I won’t go into the details but it went well. She had some little earrings put in with a February birthstone (no idea what it is) and when I saw her the next morming she had the biggest smile in the world.

She feels so grown up now and can’t wait to get back to school to show off her new accessory. And why not? She went through her right of passage without a problem and showed my that my little girl is indeed growing up every day and as her dad I need to learn that it’s ok.

The plans we made a few years ago may need to be modified now and then and that’s fine. We’re still learning too.

Oh yeah – the TV was installed in her room about 2 months ago !!