Monday, January 16, 2012

Remnants of my teenage rebellion

While getting Curly Boy dressed the other day, he looked at me and said "I love your ring, Mommy."  I thought he meant my wedding ring and replied "Thank you, your daddy bought it for me."  Then he says "The one in your ear."
"Oh, you like my earrings?  Thank you!"
We get the shirt over his head and he says "You're missing one."  He's looking from ear to ear.  "This ear is missing one."  He says again.
So I explain - No, it's supposed to be this way.  I don't have 4, just 3, two in my left ear, one in my right.

Once he runs off to play, I go to Mr. Curly, who had been at the breakfast table and heard the whole conversation and say "I never thought I'd have to explain that to my kids.  Don't they get that I grew up in the '90s when this was cool?"


Which is not entirely true.
I actually didn't get the third piercing until 2001, the year I turned 19, after my first year of college.

I had to drive my dad to our dentist, 3 hours away from our home, and while he was at the dentist, I went to the mall and had them add one piercing to my left ear. 

I had read a book in my early teenage years where a girl had her ears pierced like this, and always thought it was cool.  And at the time it was done, I didn't know anybody else who had done it - it made me feel unique!

My father wasn't too happy, he had told me not to pierce my ears again (he didn't like the first set) and I responded that I hadn't pierced my ears, I had pierced AN ear.  (And really, at 19, is this rebellion?  I always was a good-two-shoes!)

When I explained this to Mr. Curly he laughed, because he had never noticed I didn't have that piercing when he first met me.  A few months after I added this one, we started dating, and for all he knew, I had always had lopsided ears.  To his credit, when I very first met him, I generally had a fake loop (one of those made to make it look like you had a lip-ring) in the exact place I got my ear pierced.

I've explained to many many people over the years that, no, I didn't lose an earring, I did this on purpose.
And I'm still glad I did.

For awhile, the piercing just held a loop, then, for many ears, I wore an earring from my wedding in it.
After Curly Boy was born however, I asked for a mother's earring.  I'm not much of a ring person (I generally just wear my wedding ring, and sometimes a ring that my dad brought me from Guatemala), but I always have earrings in - especially in this third hole.  In fact, I'll leave an earring in there, even while I don't have earrings in the others.
Anyway, back to the mother's earring - Mr. Curly went and bought the metal for the hoop, some separating beads, a set of sapphire beads (Curly Girl's birthstone) and a set of clear beads (to represent Curly Boy's diamond birthstone) and created a Mother's Earring for me.

I ADORE it.  When Curly Baby was born the day after Curly Boy's birthday, I dug out the remaining beads and added one for him.

Some day I'd like to have one with real stones in it, but as we always say around our Curly Household - I'm the reason we don't have nice things.

Don't ask how many nice earrings I've lost, watches I've ruined, pretty expensive knickknacks that have been broken because of me - the saying makes sense.

So there we go, my kids have reached an age where I now have to explain the choices I made as a teenager.  Life is going to be interesting.

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