The piercing heard 'round the world...

We continued Emersyn's golden birthday celebration this week even though her birthday was more than a month ago. The only real thing that she asked for was to get her ears pierced. And as much as I wanted to say no, we didn't. (I mean, I don't even have my ears pierced.)

We talked lots and lots about responsibility before agreeing and at one point before her birthday we called the deal off because of some decisions she made. She did a lot of work to earn the privilege back and so we set off for the mall with Anna and Gigi to pierce those ears.

Except she decided she wanted to wait for Anna's birthday so they could do it together.

SCORE for a little more time for her to change her mind.

So, Anna's birthday got closer and closer and Emmy talked more and more about getting her ears pierced. At some point between June and July Cindy either read an article or if we're honest, listened to a podcast about the safety of getting ears pierced at the mall and the pros and cons of that versus a tattoo parlor.

Yes. A tattoo parlor.

(Note: Cindy is also just smart, so she may have thought this up on her own. I'm old and can't remember.)

Anywho.

We decided that we were going to take the girls to their very first tattoo parlor for their very first (and last) piercing.

So away we went dressed in our edgiest clothes to fit in.

Because nothing screams, "We TOTALLY belong at Big Daddy's Tattoo" like 4 parents and 2 9-year-olds, 1 8-year-old, 1 7-year-old and 2 5-year-olds. With mom cameras. (To be fair, there was another group with a 10-month-old, so...)

We signed all the forms, read all the words, paid all the money and waited.

Anna was up first. She went in with Cindy and Josh while the rest of us waited. Walked out with a smile and wished Emmy luck.

We walked in the room and TJ had Ryan sit in the chair to hold Emmy.

She was super duper nervous and I offered her one last out (y'all - I don't.have.my.ears.pierced.) (I mean, I did, but they got all weird and I quit wearing earrings 20 years ago.) (I am lazy and don't want one more thing).

BUT she was determined and kept saying "I'm brave" and "I want to be big!" so she was. And as soon as he pierced her first ear she was all, "That was it?!?" Because y'all - it was SOOOOOO much better than one of those piercing guns.

IF YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING I SAY (because why would you) TAKE YOUR KIDS TO A TATTOO PARLOR TO GET THEIR EARS PIERCED.

The whole gang came into the room so that TJ could give us the spiel on upkeep and cleaning. We were all standing there and I noticed that Emmy kind of started walking past me. And I thought, "What in the world is she doing??"

And then.

Y'all.

SHE FAINTED.

And I'm crying again just thinking about it.

I'm not going to lie - it was kind of awful. Because, I repeat.

MY SEVEN YEAR OLD FAINTED IN A TATTOO PARLOR!!!

Why yes I will take that MOM OF THE YEAR TROPHY NOW!

Ryan and TJ grabbed her - Cindy and Josh took ALL of the kids out of the room - I was all 'GET HER SOME WATER!!!!!" because I am so calm and collected.

TJ explained that this sometimes happens and not to be alarmed. Piercings cause a rush of endorphins and adrenaline and sometimes affects your blood sugar.

Yeah, sure TJ.

(In all fairness, TJ was awesome and helpful and so patient with all of us. 100% would visit him again!)

When she came to I did the only thing I could think of in my years of trauma training TV watching...

Me: Do you know your name?
Emmy: Ummmmm - EMERSYN are you crazy? What are you doing?

Yeah, she was fine.

Completely unaware what had happened. And as much as we can laugh now, this could have been much worse. She landed on a concrete ground face first and praise the Lord didn't hit her head or bust any teeth. She also missed a counter by mere inches.

Meanwhile, the spectacle in the waiting area was relieved to see all of us. Later Radley was giving me a reenactment of everyone and if they were emoji's, it sounded like this:

Poor Anna was holding on by a thin little thread of strength so we all called it a night and went home. Please note Emmy's "after" smile when all was said and done...this was about 10 minutes after "the incident".

All 3 Munsons insisted on sistering up in one bed for the night and so did Emmy and Landry. Poor L started crying again because she was so scared. She confessed every transgression she had ever committed against her sister in hopes that she would never suffer again. It was the sweetest sad thing I ever saw. Eventually they calmed down and Emmy gave us a real smile and was so excited that her ears were pierced.

Bright side - this may be ALL of their first and last visits to any tattoo parlor!

And, it really is way cleaner than going to the mall - PROMISE!

;)