Over the weekend, my mother, my MIL, and I took V to get her ears pierced. For the entire week before, V had been pointing to her ears saying "pretty pretty" in anticipation and excitement. And now, she can proudly display her pierced lobes (a fine job done by Claire's at the mall).
This did not seem like a controversial thing to do; lots of babies have pierced ears. But I got a lot of disapproving looks, free advice, and unsolicited opinions from people ranging from my nanny ("she's too young, it's going to hurt her a lot") to my sister-in-law ("it's not right to do that to her when she's not old enough to make an informed decision of whether she really wants it") to random acquaintances ("the ears will definitely get infected - is that what you want to put her through?", "she's going to grow up vain"). Wow.
Thanks everyone for your kind words and obvious concern for my daughter's well-being. I need to clarify that I had her ears pierced; I did not have her labia cut off or her feet bound. I know - fine distinction, slippery slope, blah blah blah. It's just weird to me that people would have such a strong opinion about somebody else's kid's ear lobes. Has anyone encountered the same reaction?
I'm just glad I didn't tell all these people about having E circumcised, that probably would have created a maelstrom of rebukes and dirty looks.
1 comment:
Wow, that's impressive. I wouldn't dare do that with my E - she's way too boisterous to have earrings. She'd probably rip them out (and her earlobes) in about 2 seconds!! Good for you and I'm glad that V likes 'em!
As for other people, it seems that EVERYONE has a comment about EVERYTHING to do with our kids. I'm getting pretty good at ignoring such comments, but from time to time, it does get to me.
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