Can you see the difference?

Before

After

Yes, Clara got her ears pierced this afternoon! She had been mentioning the possibility of earrings for about a week now. We'd discussed the piercing process ad nauseum and also the merits of getting the piercing done NOT the day before swimming lessons. So when the current swimming session ended (a whole other post I must work on one of these days), and we found out that the break was three weeks long Clara looked at me and said "earrings?" What is a mother to do? I agreed and there was nothing more to talk about other that when.

We made a half hearted effort to find a jeweler that does ear piercing on Sunday but ended up at the park enjoying the mild sunny afternoon instead. Today though, Clara was not having any distraction - she was on a mission. We ended up at a Jeweler on Mount Royal who was wonderful. He was very friendly and made an obvious effort to gain Clara's confidence before we even started choosing jewelry. I was amazed by the amount of choice there was for earrings, of course, Clara B was immediately captivated by the sparkly flower studs and spent several minutes deciding if she wanted the pink flower, the all blue flower, or the blue and white flower. Thankfully there was no rush and she really got to think it over and weigh her options while holding the sample board in her hands, I noticed she tilted it often to see the sparkle of the stones.

The first piercing in made Clara's go face go red, then she teared up, frowned and threw her arms around me while she cried "I'm not ready for the next one right away!" It took about 1 minute and a good look at her beautiful pierced ear to prepare Clara for the next ear. She was much more tense and looked fearful waiting for the second earring to go in but this time after it was done she just looked up and smiled "that didn't hurt at all!" I have no idea what made the difference, perhaps she just deals better with pain once she has an idea of what to expect... who knows?!? I just know I walked out of the jewelery shop with a very full and crumby Leo (he was eating snacks the whole time Clara and I were focused on her lobes) and a supremely happy little girl with glittering earrings and a huge grin!