It took four years, but she conquered her fear

About four years ago, I wrote a column about the right time to get your daughter's ears pierced. My older daughter, Randi had her ears pierced at seven and a half and when my younger daughter, Graci was seven and a half and wanted to get her ears pierced like her older sister.

Graci was so excited, she had been counting down the days until she was seven and half. She had been wanting to get her ears pierced since she was five years old. My husband wanted both girls to wait until they were old enough, he figured around seven to make their own decision about piercing their ears.

So when Graci was seven and a half, we took her to the mall, filled out the paperwork they have you do before getting your ears pierced and were ready to have her ears pierced. That day, we even had two ladies who were going to be able to pierce Graci's ears at the same time instead of doing one at a time. Right when the ladies were about to pierce her ears, Graci said she didn't want to do it. She was too scared. We didn't make her do it. We said OK and left.

Graci was sad because she really wanted her ears pierced, but the fear of if it hurting overcame her and she couldn't do it. Later I had learned earlier in the day, she had told a friend she was going to get her ears pierced and the friend told her it hurt really bad. Those words must have stuck, with her even though her sister told her it didn't hurt except for a second like a pinch.

Several years have gone by and recently I was in the mall with her and she said she wanted to finally get her ears pierced. I told her ok, but she would have wait until her dad could come with us, because this was a big deal and he wanted to be there when she did it.

I kept that idea on the back of my mind and decided we would take her as a surprise for her 11 birthday. We took her to the mall and she had no idea why we were going there on her birthday. Once we told her, she got a little nervous. Even though she wanted it done, the fear of it hurting was making her rethink having her ears pierced.

We had her pick out the earrings and my husband and other daughter told her she was going to be fine. I filled out the paperwork and paid. I even told her when I was little girl I had my ears pierced at the same place.

The lady who was going to pierce her ears was very nice and tried to reassure Graci it wasn't going to be as bad a she thought. She even offered to give her a lollipop after.

We finally convinced Graci to do it, even though at one point I thought she was going to jump off the stool. She did it! She got her first ear pierced. We didn't have the option of having both ears done at the same time because there was only one lady working. After the first ear Graci said it didn't hurt as bad as she thought it was going to hurt. Actually she said it didn't hurt at all. She did the next ear with no hesitation.

After the fact, she was so happy she did it! She had wanted it for such a long time and once she had it done, she couldn't believe she waited so long. She was so excited to show off her earrings to her family that night for her birthday party and to show her friends the next day at school.

She told me later she learned from this not to let others get the best of you. And don't let fear overtake you. I hope she remembers this as she grows up and is able to conquer the fears that come her way.