Comments on: Pierced-ear Princesas

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:57:38 +0000

Does anyone have experience with a hole closing on a child after wearing earrings for 2 years? My 8 year old has worn her earings for 2 years but they tend to close if you forget to put them right back in. Since they are uneven and one is at a bad angle I am wondering if we should let these close and she does when he is a teenager by a more credible person. I do not know if the hole will close and I make the matter worse or if I leave them alone she will get a second chance to make them right.

Any advice would be appreciated.

By: SAHMami

SAHMami — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:42:26 +0000

I had my ears pierced several times as a small child. The first time, I don’t remember, but my parents didn’t get those screw on posts so I’d take them out as a toddler and then the holes would close up. Maybe mami didn’t notice they were gone. I don’t know. But each ear piercing, was done by a tia, comadre or some respected Guadalupana from church.

The first time I remember having my ears pierced was when I was four. We drove to a Guadalupana’s home and she sat me down in her living room, armed with sterilizing alcohol, a book of matches, her sewing needle and red thread. She wiped my ear down with the alcohol. Then she lit a match and ran the needle through it to sterilize it. I don’ t know if the thread was actually in the needle or not and I don’t remember feeling any pain. But I do remember when it was all done, I had a little loop of red thread through each ear and was told to return in a few weeks to have the real earrings put in.

It didn’t seem like a big deal to me or unusual because my cousins all had their ears pierced too. But when I entered school, it became a big deal, even more so as the years went by and my pre-pubescent friends anxiously awaited their ear piercing.

Fast forward to the birth of my daughter. My mom wanted to have her ears pierced immediately so that the Virgin de Guadalupe would recognize her. But, my husband, who is mostly not Latino, was adamantly opposed to piercing mija’s ears. I argued for a while but eventually gave up. He felt that the child was pretty enough as she was. So when my now four year old daughter whines for earrings, I send her to her father. At times, he has come close to caving, on one condition, that my two year old son be allowed to pierce his ears too.

By: Ana Lilian

Ana Lilian — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:22:59 +0000

I’m an advocate for ear piercing at the earliest age possible! I actually took the two pair of earrings that were given to my girl by her familia when she was still in my womb to the hospital. Those were some crazy looks I got by the nurses who thought I was still high on whatever they gave me for the C-section pain.
Almost 6 months later I could still not find a ped to do them for us. I was even scared to ask my mom groups for help. There was no way I was taking her to the mall to be handled by a teenager working behind the counter…no, no.
Finally found an amazing Dr. who decided to do it himself after he got tired of treating babies who came in with infections from poorly done piercings. And, he agrees that the younger the better so they don’t have the temptation to pull on them.
My princesa looks beautiful and when we get the looks I just say..we’re Latinas!

By: Bear with me! « Multi-Culti Mami: The Blog

Bear with me! « Multi-Culti Mami: The Blog — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:12:07 +0000

[...] left me behind on so many things. I was ill for a couple of weeks, and then our older daughter had an E.R. trip and a surgery. And then there was all the work that I got behind on, and all the fall work I had to prep for. So, [...]

By: Chela

Chela — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:44:31 +0000

My sisters and I also had our ears pierced at the hospital a very young age. But I grew up in NYC where, with so many immigrants, it’s not unusual to see at all! I’ve also noticed that people from India and at least some non-Spanish speaking Caribbean countries do the same thing, so we’re not as “odd” as some people may think. And I don’t think I’ve ever left my house without earrings! You might as well tell me not to wear a shirt…lol

By: Melek

Melek — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:35:57 +0000

Great post Violeta,

I also left the hospital with my ears pierced … and like you all had to wait until our daughter was 3 months old to have hers pierced (the pediatrician explained about a baby’s inmune system…)

This really highlights cultural diversity & traditions. Like you and Carrie, I can’t leave home without earrings! I also feel “naked” LOL!!! In our culture is a given that as soon as we can, girls will have their ears pierced. I actually received several earrings as baby gifts … I was glad that in the Turkish culture (my husband is Turkish)this is also common!

I remember a neighbor whose daughter started wearing make-up way early (by 11 yrs old) and when our daughter told her that she was too young to wear make-up at 11, our neighbor pointed out that wearing earrings was equivalent to wearing make-up … go figure!!!

I wish you well Melek

“Tradition does not mean that the living are dead, but that the dead are living.” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

By: Meli

Meli — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:09:49 +0000

As a non-Latina growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan my sisters and I were the only girls we knew in the neighborhood without pierced ears. I was sooo jealous of those girls with the flashes of gold on their ears. My mother had actually wanted to pierce our ears as infants, but my father refused. One of the first things that she did after they divorced was to let my two sisters and me get our ears pierced. By this time we had also moved to the Pacific Northwest. Strangely, we were now among the few girls who DID have their ears pierced & the other girls were now jealous of us!

By: Carla

Carla — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:00:46 +0000

My abuelo loves to tell the story of how he pierced my ears as an infant with nothing but a ice, needle and thread (ouch!). Every time I’ve left the hospital with my girls he’s taken a peak to see if their ears are pierced but we’ve obliged with our pedi’s request to wait until 3 months. I love my girls with their little earrings! Hope your baby is feeling better =)

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:42:17 +0000

I had my Daughter’s ears pierced the day after her first set of shots, what…2 months??!!??

I had my TIA go with me, cuz I don’t think I could have handled it myself. She had to stop the guy(doing the piercing) a few time, just to calm me down. Of course I cried, my tia cried, Heck, even my son cried!!! I know, I know, we are a bunch of “cheones” But, I don’t regret it. Got it over and done with. lol.. Loved the post!

By: class factotum

class factotum — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:47:08 +0000

I am not latina, but my mom had my ears (and my sister’s) pierced when we were 8 and 5, respectively. Why? Because we were living in Spain and that’s how all the girls were and my mom thought it was OK. Then she got hers done the same day. The pediatrician at the base clinic did it for us.

The only reason I can think of not to pierce a baby’s ears is to save it as a negotiating chip for her teen years. But I sure do like being able to tell boys and girls apart in latin countries. And baby girls with pierced ears look so CUTE.