You, and your children, scare me.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

I got my ears pierced twice. Once cuz I asked, the other to convince my mom it didn't hurt.
I don't believe in piercing baby's ears because they can grab them, hurt themselves once by ripping it off, twice by swallowing them.

Also that man was sicker in the head than the little girl in her eyes, if you catch my drift.

[DesignFox]

I did not have my ears pierced as a baby even though some of my friends did.

Hell, my dad wasn't even happy I wanted them pierced when I asked for it at age 9 My mother was thrilled to take me, though. Then I didn't wear earrings for the longest time (just often enough to keep the holes open, or for special occasions- just in case I changed my mind and decided I liked earrings again)

Now I have two ear holes...weeee. I was surprised my Dad didn't question that when I came home with them. /rambling

So, yea- I think your kids should have a choice in the matter. I don't understand piercing a two year old- jeez they are the most intractable brats to deal with at that age...why bother? If you're going to eliminate choice from the equation, do it while they are too young to fight it! And never if your kid is sick- that's the last thing the poor child needs...what horrible parents those two are.

[purplecat41877]

I got my ears pierced when I was 7. Recently, I've gotten into making my own earrings.

[SuperB]

Two years later I still want to strangle my daughter for what she did to me.

She was 6 and had been begging me to get her ears pierced. I was on the fence of letting her get them and thinking she should wait. She really, really wanted them so I gave in. We went to a jewelers and picked out a pair. As the woman was getting ready with the gloves and the piercing gun....
Let's just shorten it to- my daughter was afraid to get it done but didn't want to leave without getting them done. We even paid for it, took the earrings and came back a few days later when she said she was ready. I got a third piercing done to show her it didn't hurt and the same thing happened. After she got the first one, she was afraid of the second. Now I really felt between a rock and a hard place and it ended up with my husband holding her and her crying, just to get it done and over with.

I knew she would be happy with them after the fact and I was right (she's quite the girly-girl), I should have made her wait but I can only imagine what the other people working there must have been thinking. They didn't hear all of her begging and pleading, just saw what looked like mom forcing earrings on her.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

They didn't hear all of her begging and pleading, just saw what looked like mom forcing earrings on her.

Yes but I bet she wasn't oozing.

[SuperB]

Definitely not oozing.

[Munty]

Just a quick note, but white gunk coming from the eyes sounds like conjunctivitis to me.

This sounds like it happened a while ago for you, but if you ever run into something like this again it might be a good idea to check with your doctor about it. Some forms of conjunctivitis are very contagious and can leave you perminantly blind.

(Fun fact: A family member was recently placed in quarantine for 2 weeks (at home) because of a very virulent conjunctivitis infection. Ended up bleeding from the eyes, though it looks like it's all healed up fine now)

[Shironu-Akaineko]

Just a quick note, but white gunk coming from the eyes sounds like conjunctivitis to me.

This sounds like it happened a while ago for you, but if you ever run into something like this again it might be a good idea to check with your doctor about it. Some forms of conjunctivitis are very contagious and can leave you perminantly blind.

(Fun fact: A family member was recently placed in quarantine for 2 weeks (at home) because of a very virulent conjunctivitis infection. Ended up bleeding from the eyes, though it looks like it's all healed up fine now)

HMM! I'm stuck home for 2 weeks and my eyes are bleeding.
I FEEL LIKE GETTING MY EARS PIERCED!
That dun happen. Glad to hear that family member is better now.

Hehehe, I STILL can't get over how stupid those parents were.

[CSR Kim]

Two years later I still want to strangle my daughter for what she did to me.

When I worked there, this was VERY COMMON with kids. I always felt so bad for the parents. All the way through picking out the earrings, ringing up the sale, etc., the kids were sooo excited about getting their ears pierced. And then they'd sit down in the chair and terror would take over. And I could understand being afraid, that's fine. But kids are indecisive to a fault. Kid: "But I'm scaaarrrreeed!" Mom: "Well then let's go." Kid: "But I want it doonnneee!" Mom: "Well, do it!" Kid: "But I'm scaaarrrreeed!" and so on and so forth...

[tollbaby]

I don't even know what disease would cause a child to leak white ooze out of his/her eyes like that.

That child needs to see a doctor, not get her ears pierced.

pinkeye (aka conjunctivitis) is HIGHLY contagious and runs rampant through daycare centres for this very reason. It could also have been a really bad cold (my daughter gets really thick mucous discharge from her tear ducts when she's ill).

I have a five year old girl. She's a girly girl, likes pink frills and all that crap. DESPERATELY wants her ears pierced. However, she's a huge melodramatic baby, and I KNOW it will be the end of the world if I give in and - heaven forbids - it hurts. That, and I have a MAJOR aversion to piercings of any kind (and most other types of jewelry as well). I *refuse* to take care of it and clean it. Thus, she can wait until she's ten or so and old enough to care for it herself.

My father once said HE would take her out to get her ears pierced. I said "over my cold, dead body".... he had a puerile tantrum that rivaled anything my kids can dish out and said he'd do it anyway. I said "you do, and it's the last time you'll see your grandchildren". Why oh WHY can't people just ACCEPT that not everyone shares the same ideas on parenting?!?!? (btw, no, my dad and I do NOT get along... something to do with having the crap kicked out of me for 17 years of my life...)

I'd have just told the guy "sorry, we can't do piercings on sick children due to the risk of infection"

[CSR Kim]

My father once said HE would take her out to get her ears pierced. I said "over my cold, dead body".... he had a puerile tantrum that rivaled anything my kids can dish out and said he'd do it anyway.

If he ever tries that, I seriously hope that the place he goes to upholds the law and does not let anyone but the parents or legal guardians sign for a minor. We could get fired if we got caught letting anyone other than the responsible party sign. Which makes sense...I didn't want any angry parent jumping down my throat because we pierced their child's ears without their consent.