“Mommy, I’m ready to have my ears pierced. Really, I am,” Bella, my 6-year old daughter (at the time), shouts to me from where she sits in the back of our mini-van.
I glance at her reflection in the rear-view mirror. My heart feels heavy as I note how much taller she suddenly seems in her booster seat. I no longer have to adjust the mirror to see her anymore when she speaks to me.
“Did you hear me, Mommy?” she asks, coercing me out of the past and thrusting me into the present.
I reply, “Yes, I heard you. You want your ears pierced.” The tone in my voice is composed, yet at the same time, bordering upon melancholy.
A friend of mine had brought her young daughter to the gym that morning and proudly displayed her daughter’s newly pierced ears. Almost immediately, Bella inquired about getting her own ears pierced.
My initial response had been one of excitement, as I imagined us wearing matching earrings...an act which would demonstrate our tight mother-daughter bond. She had talked many times about getting her ears pierced but when it came down to it, she would always decide that she wasn’t ready.
However, now, with the staunch realization that this time she is undoubtedly going to follow through, I can’t help but feel a little wave of sadness at the very thought of this milestone.
The responsibility and desire I feel to make this experience a positive one for her weighs heavily on my mind. This important memory will stay with her forever...it is something she will never forget.
With a deep sigh, I state, “Okay, we’ll run a couple errands and then we’ll stop by the mall to get your ears pierced.”
She smiles brightly while peering out the window, her eyes sparkling with radiance as the sun’s golden rays light up her face. Even though I’ve always thought she was gorgeous, for some reason, her beauty takes my breath away, today, as I steal another glimpse of my only daughter.
Her promises for a lifetime of love and friendship run tireless circles around the inside of my head...”Mommy, you’ll always be my best friend and I’ll always be your baby girl”.
Finally, after finishing our errands, we arrive at the mall and enter the store, with her skipping delightfully ahead of me as I stagger behind, willing time to slow down.
She is ready but I am not.
She eyes the tall chair in front of her, a cloud of hesitancy veils the smile that was on her face merely seconds before. For a brief minute, I’m consumed with relief...maybe she’s not ready, after all.
I witness her uncertainty vanish as quickly as it had appeared when she pulls herself up into the chair. Just an hour prior to this, she had looked so big in her booster seat and now she seems so small in the large chair that envelops her.
With the innocence of a young child, she criss-crosses her legs and swings them nervously beneath her, hands clasped tightly together.
The manager comes over and explains the process. She hands Bella a frame which shows the various earrings she can choose from. It doesn’t take her long to point to the sparkly pink flower earrings.
“These, Mommy,” she whispers softly. ”These are the ones I want, okay? Do you like them?”
I nod my head and smile, giving my approval of her choice in earrings. Of course, she wants the ones which scream BLING in every way possible. That’s my girl...extroverted, gregarious and flashy, all wrapped into one. Everything I was not, at her age. I can’t help but feel a tinge of envy, only wishing I had had an ounce of her confidence when I was 6.
