when did / will you let ds get his ear(s) pierced?

[salsah]

well, we talked about when to pierce dd's ears, but what about ds? i saw an (aprox.) eight yr old boy at the store yesterday with his ear pierced and my first reaction was that he is too young. but then i realized that i don't think an eight year old girl is too young to have her ears pierced. so, i'm just curious to know how others feel about it.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

right after I let him tattoo his bum.

[Laurel]

The same as for DD- when he is old enough to take care of the cleaning, etc., on his own.

[maestramommy]

:yeahthat: Not sure how Dh would feel about it though. He's a little more conservative about that kind of thing:) And since we don't have a boy he'd just say "we'd cross that bridge when we come to it. But certainly no earlier than the age of responsibility.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Double digits for a girl or a boy.

Beth

[kedss]

When DS is old enough to take care of it on his own, and can afford the earrings on his own. :)

[Melbel]

NEVER! :wink2:

[icunurse]

When he is not living under my roof anymore. Until then, I call the shots and there will be no earrings on boys.

[TaChapm]

As long as I am calling the shots and he is under my roof he will N*E*V*E*R get them pierced! If he showed up with them pierced I would take them out (and it would likely hurt!). :)After that I can't control him but I certainly wouldn't be happy about it if he chooses to.

[spanannie]

I'm with Tara, icunurse, and melbel . . . not under my roof!

[Wife_and_mommy]

I'd be okay with it around age 16. I'd prefer he grew his hair out, though. :ROTFLMAO: DH becomes more conservative the older he gets (;) ) so he might have a problem with it. We do agree on no tattoos while living in our house.

Earrings on males isn't commonplace around my parts. My DH, brother and other male relatives had ear piercings as teenagers. Not one of them wears an earring today so I don't see the need for equality in piercings.

[punkrockmama]

Yep, I'm with the "when he can take care of them himself" camp. So, that'd probably be around 12 or so? Yeah, that would be just fine with me.

Same rule would apply to his sister. Oh, but any tats would not be until age 18. And that's final. :)

[kijip]

If he wanted it, about 12 or so. Not really opposed to men having pierced ears...my dad has one and he is 65. :ROTFLMAO:It is pretty common here in Seattle, I have seen doctors and lawyers and engineers and teachers with them.

I've thought about this a lot. Here are my limits as of today:

10-12 for any funky temporary hairdyes for both boys and girls.

12 for pierced ears for boys.

16 for other body piercings like nose, belly or eyebrow. But they have to pay for it themselves.

No tattoos or genital piercings until they are 18. I'd never pay for or condone genital piercing but I might help pay for a tattoo as a present. That is coming from someone with 4 tattoos however, so what the heck do I know?

And call my sexist, dollars to donuts I'd pierce an infant girls ears. But not a boys. No coherrent explaination.

[JBaxter]

Connor ( 13) asked to get his ear pierced when he was 4 because a boy at his preschool had his done. I said sure and asked if he knew how they did it he said no I told him they took a big sharp pointy needle and rammed it through is ear till it popped out the other side and it would hurt really really bad and bleed alot. He looked at me and said ... Uh thats ok mommy I think I was telling you a joke and we dont have to talk about it anymore :icon_twisted: :ROTFLMAO: was that bad?

[ThreeofUs]

Pretty much when s/he can take care of his ears and any piercings therein himself. I'd probably finance the procedure to ensure it wasn't like mine (5 yo, a piece of ice, and a needle - ouch!)

[maestramommy]

Connor ( 13) asked to get his ear pierced when he was 4 because a boy at his preschool had his done. I said sure and asked if he knew how they did it he said no I told him they took a big sharp pointy needle and rammed it through is ear till it popped out the other side and it would hurt really really bad and bleed alot. He looked at me and said ... Uh thats ok mommy I think I was telling you a joke and we dont have to talk about it anymore :icon_twisted: :ROTFLMAO: was that bad?

:hysterical:I thought it was pretty clever myself!

[MelissaTC]

If all goes according to plan, DS will continue to attend private school through high school. They don't allow boys to have their ears pierced.

Once he is 18, he can do whatever the heck he wants.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Connor ( 13) asked to get his ear pierced when he was 4 because a boy at his preschool had his done. I said sure and asked if he knew how they did it he said no I told him they took a big sharp pointy needle and rammed it through is ear till it popped out the other side and it would hurt really really bad and bleed alot. He looked at me and said ... Uh thats ok mommy I think I was telling you a joke and we dont have to talk about it anymore :icon_twisted: :ROTFLMAO: was that bad?



Good tactic!!!

[Wife_and_mommy]

So, a ? for the "absolutely nots":

Do you not think that having an ear pierced is a relatively minor teenage angst procedure? My dh had a piercing as a teenager and has no scar but he does have a dimple(as does DS) in his ear lobe that looks like a piercing.

I don't *want* any DS's to pierce their ears but see it as a battle I'd rather not conquer in the grand scheme.

Would love to hear your thoughts. :)

Oh, I have a story too. My pastor once told a story about his son(a skater type) when he grew his hair out(a short *curly* bob). He was *quite* perturbed by it until he realized how inconsequential a hairstyle was. It wasn't worth the conflict in their relationship. I guess his story had an impact on me. I'm quite conservative so am not a fan of long hair on males, let alone earrrings.

[Joolsplus2]

My son would rather <insert your own image of what's disgusting here> than get his ears pierced.... :ROTFLMAO:

If hell freezes over and he asks about it, then yeah, whenever he can take care of it (same for dd...she's already freaked out at the piercing place once, though, it could be awhile before she asks again...)

[punkrockmama]

Oh yeah, I think two of you guys brought up a very good point I didn't think about. I will either help pay or find the place for whatever pierceing they want. Same for any tat when they're old enough. One, because I totally remember holding a cold can of Mountain Dew against my ear while a friend lit up a safety pin with a lighter (!). And two, because I've seen some bad art and if they're gonna do it I want them to go some place quality (and that can be very expensive).

[kransden]

A lot of the hispanic boys here have their ears pierced. It usually has to do with gangs as to what earring they wear. So while I am liberal enough to let a son get his ears pierced, at whatever age they could take care of it, I would be worried about the gang symbolism. Just something you should think about.

[karstmama]

when he wants and is old enough to take care of it *and has proven trustworthy about other self-care issues* like teethbrushing and baths. so, i dunno, 16? :D

and straight to the tattoo/piercing shop we'll go. those mall places don't sterilize the guns.