The experience was far from easy, and I’m just glad she won’t remember what Mama and Daddy put her through, all in the name of beauty.
A couple of Sundays ago, we decided to walk around the mall after church. Nandi was in a good mood, and I wasn’t terribly exhausted. So, we made our way to the mall in Arlington. I can tell my little one will be a shopper. She gets giddy every time we go, and it seems she knows when we’re shopping for her. Before purchasing an outfit, I’ll always ask for her opinion. If she reaches for an article of clothing, looks up at me and says, “Oh….oh…ooo,” I know we have a winner.
But on this particular Sunday, clothes weren’t on the list. I saw the jewelry store out of the corner of my eye and immediately asked my husband if he was ready to do what we’d been debating to do for the longest – have Nandi’s ears pierced. He was okay with it, so I took a deep breath and headed to the store.
Once we decided to have Nandi’s ears pierced with her birthstone, the sales attendant went over lengthy paperwork that included detailed instructions on how to clean the ears after piercing. My husband looked at me and said, “Did you get all of that, because I didn’t.” I told him not to worry; I’d explain it later and show him how to clean Nandi’s ears.
I think we were both nervous, and Nandi picked up on our emotions. The sales attendant gave her a lollipop to suck on as she thoroughly cleaned items and placed gloves on her hands in preparation for my baby girl’s ear piercing. The look on my angel’s face was classic. While my husband held Nandi in his lap, she slowly sucked on her candy, looking skeptically at me and the sales attendant.
I tried to talk to her, but she simply stared at me, not saying a word – just licking slowly on her lollipop. My husband told me to video the moment on his cell phone, so once another sales attendant came to our area to assist; I prepared to film the moment.
I was thankful two people were piercing her ears at the same time, because if not, I had a feeling we would have left with just one earring in Nandi’s ear instead of two. Before they pierced her ears, they instructed my husband on the proper way to hold our daughter so she wouldn’t move her head. We all took a deep breath, counted to three and the sales attendants pierced my child’s ears. Her eyes got big and she started screaming and crying in pain. I almost dropped my husband’s phone, because I wanted to immediately wrap her in my arms. I thought to myself, “What have I just done to my precious baby?!” But after a couple of minutes, she stopped crying, but she was looking leery at both me and my husband. And before we left the store, she stared down both sales attendants, as if to say, “I haven’t forgotten what you did to me, and you better watch your back!” We couldn’t help but laugh, and I think that made matters worse, because she turned her look of wrath on me and my husband. He jokingly said we might have to sleep with one eye open for a while.
An hour later she was back to her normal, happy self, until I had to clean her ears. She whimpered for a few seconds but was fine after that.
I think she’s forgiven us, and now she’ll sometimes grab the cleaning solution saying “ear,” while pointing to her own. I’m glad the ordeal is over and didn’t last too long.
With another little girl on the way, I think we might get her ears pierced before she turns one. I believe that will be best for us all. If we wait until our second child is almost two (like we did with Nandi), it won’t be a pretty scene. I can see it now – Nandi will shout to her baby sister, “Noooo!! Run as fast as you can, and don’t look back!” Yeah, I’m thinking we’ll have our second daughter’s ears pierced when she’s around six months. But for now, we’ll just enjoy spending time with Miss Nandi, as we look forward to (and pray) for the healthy birth of our second child.
Chandra Caradine is a Sr. Public Relations Specialist for Texas Health Resources, Mom to Nandi and soon-to-be-Mama to another baby girl due in January.
No comments:
Post a Comment