It was summer 2024, when my teenager approached me with a great idea, she wanted some more piercings beyond her single ear piercings she had. She wished for 2nd holes and then also a nose piercing. My then 14 year old, looked at me convincingly, but not convincing enough because I agreed to 2nd ear piercings but not the nose.
You need to understand this kid has flawless skin, perfect face, and I could not yet part with her piercing her face. So we tabled it, It was a no for now, but not forever, and in true teen fashion, come fall few months later, she was back on the nose piercing wagon. I took into account the fact that she persisted, her age, her considerations and tabled it again, but this time, I wanted to research. I wanted to research, healing times, reactions, issues, concerns about age/maturity, I wanted to know any health risks, etc. I wanted to research places that do this and have great success rates and cleanliness factors.
After the research phase, and tabling it again, the nose piercing ask rose up for the holidays, and I did honestly consider it, even reached out to places including a Local Tattoo Parlor "Flying Tiger Tattoo in New Britain CT". The tattoo shop had excellent reviews, had super clean facilities and their cost was reasonable. Mom, however, was not ready. So we glossed over it, I even made a deal that I would pierce my nose with her hoping she would forget, she did not.
So where does this lead us? Well here we are on a random day off in January and after getting my hair done by a friend, she dropped the nose piercing again, but this time I took the bait. I had researched it, I had done my due diligence, and it had been at least 6 months since she originally asked, her goal was steadfast and steady. She had not wavered, but rather patiently waited for me to say yes. Today was that day, we went to Flying Tiger, visited our guy Jay and he did a phenomenal job in piercing BOTH our noses.
We walked out giggling and a little shooketh, because needle in my face, was no joke. We bonded over something fun and silly and not earth shattering. A piercing that can easily be removed or altered if desired, a piercing that did not break the bank, but brought her heart joy. Her heart and her mind, because she was heard, she was seen, and her wants were acknowledged. Bonding with your teenager, over small things, making wins where there are technically none, is a part of creating moments with our teenagers. Those gangly things that eat all our food, were and still are those little chubby cheeked babes we once held in our arms. They are growing, morphing into the humans that will one day take over the world, and my hope is that I have invested enough time, love and energy in them to ensure they are well rounded, caring humans.
So go forth, get the piercing, or the tattoo if you want, go get the weird hair colors, or nail polish with your kids, listen to the weird music, whatever it is that pushes you out of your comfort zone, and into their world even for a moment, go do it. Immerse yourself in who they are and let them show you all they have become and are becoming. Life is fleeting and our teenagers, were the babies we held once just a blink of an eye ago. Treasure the moments, go bond, laugh and live joyously with your teens.
Sincerely yours,
A Millennial Mother
