Evie gets her ears pierced! Or not. And some other stuff, as usual.

A recurring theme here is how things never turn out how you think. Nothing earth-shattering, but still, life - or the people you share it with - throw you curve balls. This is a story about Evie :)

On Thursday, Evie told me she was ready to get her ears pierced. I had taken Evie to the mall maybe two years ago because she wanted them pierced, but after we arrived she changed her mind and said she wasn't ready. No problem, I said, you tell me when you're ready and we'll go back. Matt wasn't really ready for her to have her ears pierced at 7 anyway - and actually I'm not sure what magic date he has in mind, but nevertheless, I promised to take her when she was ready to go.

On Thursday Evie told me she was ready for earrings; Of course! I said, I would take her early Saturday morning before the town Christmas parade at 12 noon - she needed to be back in town by 11:30 to walk in the parade with her Brownie troop. It was all she could talk about all day Friday, and apparently all the kids at school were told she was getting her ears pierced this weekend.

Saturday morning dawned, and Evie was up bright and early, super excited to get her ears pierced. She had her favorite loveys stuffed in her purse, and we headed to the mall; we arrived at Claire's, because obviously, Piercing Pagoda is just too open and everyone can SEE you squirming in the chair - never mind that when I had my ears done at 9, that was pretty much the only place TO go - but anyway - Evie picked out her earrings and hopped in the chair. They cleaned her ears, marked them with the purple marker, and then she hopped down.

We talked for a minute, and she tried again. And then leaped out of the chair. We left the store and walked around the mall and talked. She wanted to try again, so we went back. This time, after more hemming and hawing, we actually got as far as them opening the package of the earrings to put them in the piercing gun, and she bailed at the last minute. Mind you, now that the seal on the package has been opened, they can't re-use those earrings for piercing and we have to pay for them. No go.

We spent every last minute we could possibly spend there Saturday morning, only to leave with me frustrated with her, and her mad at herself - but taking it out on me, of course. She didn't want to be in the parade, or even GO to the parade, and in the end we bailed. I really thought this post was going to be all about Evie getting her ears pierced and the great time we had at the Mayberry Christmas Parade. NOT.

So we continued on about our day, and by Saturday night, Evie said she wanted to try again. I told her that was fine, I had some errands to run and she was welcome to come with me BUT, that if we got to the point where we had to pay for earrings and she didn't go through with it, she would be buying them with her money. Surely that would work, right?

I'm not sure why I was so surprised by this, but it was a no go. After they cleaned and marked her ears & opened the sterile package of earrings, she hopped out of the chair and walked to the register to pay for them - her 2nd pair of starter earrings. I don't think this pair even made it into the piercing gun.

We left the mall to finish our errands and she was really beating herself up over this. She asked if I would take her back to do it, and - like an idiot? - I said yes, if you're sure. She was, she assured me. So, for the third time in two days, we headed back to Claire's. This time, another girl was getting hers pierced for the 3rd time - I figured Evie would see that it was no big deal & just go through with it. Needless to say, we left the mall with her ears still intact. At least this last time we didn't get as far as having to buy the earrings.

So I'm kind of baffled by the whole thing, although maybe I shouldn't be. Ever since she's been big enough to be aware, Evie has always balked at getting any kind of shot. She pretty much shakes off any injury she doesn't know is coming like it's no big deal, but I guess with a big imagination - and hers is HUGE - comes the downside of worrying and turning things into bigger deals than they actually are.And I've tried everything I can think of to get it through to her that it's NOT that big of a deal.

She's already asking if we can go back to the mall before next weekend. We're headed to Pittsburgh to see my family for Christmas and she'd love to show her newly pierced ears off to her cousins, but I'm pretty much against taking her back & being burned for a third time in a week. I mean really - how many times can I sign the consent form and then walk away? Although she only has enough allowance money to pay for one more pair of earrings, should she balk again. Of course - I've offered to do it for her, any time she wants - I have plenty of sewing needles and a potato at hand, any time she's ready :) Is that bad?? lol!

I share this story mainly because the blog is my only journal and scrapbook, and I want to remember this in the future - and I'm sure Evie will, as well, and we'll laugh about how she's the only kid in history to buy multiple pairs of starter earrings without ever getting her ears pierced :)

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I finally got around to decorating for Christmas! We're not quite finished, but I have to say I'm happy with how the mantle is looking - Target has mercury glass votives in gold on sale for 79 cents, and I picked up a few of them today! I love mercury glass, there's just something about it - in my everyday life, while I'm drawn to glittery glitzy things, I tend to be more practical and basic in my tastes - but Christmas is a time when things should sparkle so I'm happy to have picked up a few new votives and some candle sticks. I need to get some pillars to put on them, but it's only the 5th - there is time. I also love getting my Santas out every year. Some of them were gifts to me, some of them are from my mother, and some come to me all the way from my great grandmother - I remember studying her Santa collection every year when we visited for Christmas, and I'm so happy to have some of hers to decorate our home with :)

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In the midst of life swirling around us, we're sick. Some worse than others, at the moment it's Sarah and Jason who are fairly miserable and coughing. Seems like almost every night for the last I can't remember now it's been so long we've had visitors somewhere around 2 or 3 am.

They stay awhile until we can't take the restlessness anymore, and one of us takes them back to bed. I'm really hoping we can shake this off and be done with it for a bit - seems like since mid-October we've been dealing with stomach bugs of various sorts, runny noses, dry coughs, and now wet coughs.

 

My kids are now getting Flintstones Chewables with breakfast every day, and I'm trying to remember to take my vitamins as well - because I seem to come down with everything the little ones get, and I'm thinking I feel a cough coming on now. Happily, my little buddy - and this is why I love him more than the others (just kidding! or maybe not...) with no prompting from Mom, was coughing into his hand. And when I suggested that he might try coughing into his elbow, has been doing just that ever since. I'm not sure where he came from, but I'm very glad he's here. And no, you can't have him.

I'm really hoping my small people - and me - feel better tomorrow, but in the meantime they seem pretty happy with their favorite shows on Tivo and some cuddle time with Mom. Oh, and pbskids.org. Damn that started early.