Back in early 1971 when Sussette was still on the way, the subject of "Piercing infant babies' Ears" came up. I don't ever remember having seen an infant with pierced ears at that time. On the other hand, Angelina considered infant ear piercing to be typical. Obviously this was a cultural difference. It took me a month or so to come around to the idea of piercing Sussette's ears. Nowhere could I find 14K gold balls small enough for an infant's ears, and I did not know that infant earrings had screw-in balls on back and not clips. None-the-less, when I came home with the earrings for Sussette, her Mom Angelina, was pleased with the effort, or at least pretended she was.I was not the only person that was not familiar with infant ear piercing. When Angelina asked our new pediatrician to do the honors, he somewhat panicked! Angelina was amused that the doctor put on surgical gloves and a surgical mask for the "Operation". Sussette was about a month old as I remember it.... and she had her slightly oversized gold ball earrings until her Mom got the real infant style from Mexico.A few years later, as Jessica and then Carrie came to us, the Ear Piercing was completed more easily. As the years passed it became much more common place to see infants with pierced ears. Maybe it is because we lived in South Florida with a large Spanish population or maybe it became common throughout the population. Our girls did not stand out in grade school as many of their classmates had earrings. At this time, when his sister were in grade school, Andrew came to us. He did NOT get his ears pierced...... thank God.Now all this came back to me, because yesterday (12/20/11) four of Jessica's girls decided they wanted their ears pierced. With their Mom's permission, Aunt Sussette took them to the mall for this to get done. I went with them to experience the event, an experience I did not have with my girls. Here is the picture story of my four granddaughters getting their first pierced earrings.
| Aunt Sussette did a great job organizing the event. Waiting until Noon, there would be TWO employees..... one for each ear. This way we did not fear someone being scared half way through the process. |
Aunt Sussette helping girls pick their first pierced earrings.
Amelia, Laura, Jane, Sarah, Aunt Sue |
The girls walked around so that one sister would not panic anyone still waiting. As this progressed and all did so well, this was not necessary. |
Laura watching Sarah having her ears pierced. Sisters walking around waiting for all to be done
Cousin Aubrey there to help, and Joanna making sure we know that she does NOT want her ears done.
Here is Laura waiting for ladies..... Last, but not least, maybe the most patient?
Laura's ears being marked. Laura having both ears done at once.
ALL EIGHT EARS ARE DONE!
