I think we are all successfully past the wedding hangover that was inevitable after a whirlwind weekend in Napa. Between the three-hour time change, the four days of non-stop activities and late nights, the quick travel turn around, and the calm after the storm as the dust settled around us, it took several days to regain routine around here.
It was the girls’ first wedding to attend, and obviously by default, also their first wedding to be active participants. The anticipation over their flower girl duties was intense as the weekend drew closer – so many questions about what to do and what to expect. Although, truth be told, all they really cared about was wearing poofy dresses and shoes “with just a little heel. PLEASE, Mom!” Done and done.
Little did they know the highlight of their weekend would not be the wedding at all. It would instead be a very special Flower Girl Surprise from the bride herself. Upon our arrival a few days prior to the wedding, Nick dropped the three of us off at a hair salon to join Gma and Aunt Megan for the bride’s trial run of hair and makeup. We patiently watched her get glammed up, and afterwards, she gave each of the girls a little card with a note that announced as a thank you for being flower girls in her wedding, she was going to take them to…..gasp!….get their ears pierced! WHAT the WHAT!
Audrey has been begging to get her ears pierced for at least the last three years. I had decided on the arbitrary age of 8, with no real reasoning, other than it sounded good? Personally I was 9 when my (more-fun-than-my-mom) uncle convinced my mom (who had set her arbitrary age at 13) to let me get mine pierced, and I was beyond thrilled. Anyway. Eight for ears, it was decided.
So. When Aunt Megan ran this idea past me (as any good Aunt should, obviously) a few weeks ago, I was wishy-washy at best about the whole age 8 rule, so of course I said yes. Besides. What kind of buzzkill Mom would I be if I had said no. How often do you get to be in your aunt’s wedding and get your ears pierced? Also, it seemed fitting to continue the tradition of the more-fun-than-mom relative breaking the ear piercing age boundary.
Upon reading the notes from Aunt Megan, little smirks crept across those sweet girlie faces. “What does this mean? Like RIGHT NOW?” Audrey asked. Lucy exclaimed, “FOR REAL???????” And off we went. To a Claire’s in Santa Rosa, CA. Where I basically signed our lives away for four ear piercings. Seriously there was a lot of paperwork. Don’t worry, Claire’s in Santa Rosa, I will not come back to sue you if one of my daughters’ ears falls off in the night.
And they did it without so much as a flinch from either one. Lucy was nominated by her sister to go first. Surrounded by Gma, Aunt Megan, and me – who were all more nervous than she was – she sat there stoically as two sparkly green (of course) studs pierced her ears. Audrey hopped up next, with just as much “Let’s do this” in her eyes as Lu, and little rainbow daisies (also of course on the earring choice) took up residence in her lobes.
And then the sales girl gave me the very detailed rules of cleaning said ears. Well, sh*t. I had forgotten the cleaning part. Three times a day. Each ear. I’m not a math whiz, but that’s A LOT of ear cleanings per day. Twelve. Twelve cotton balls of ear solution per day. I instantly regretted agreeing to this stupid idea. Who thought this was a good plan??? What kind of mother willingly adds all these ear cleanings to her day? I can’t even get them to brush their teeth – something we have been doing morning and night since basically birth! Sometimes I even have to remind Lucy to go to the bathroom in the morning. That’s right. I have to remind her TO PEE. A basic bodily function. And now I’m going to have to wrestle her down to clean her freaking ears.
All in the name of creating memories. Good Lord. The things we do as mothers.
Two weeks into it, and the ear cleanings aren’t quite so bad. We have gotten pretty efficient with them, and the girls are so afraid of getting an infected lobe that they remember to do it more often than I do. And every time someone asks them how the wedding was and how it was to be a flower girl, they proudly show off their little ears and beam with pride, “Well, my aunt – you know, the BRIDE – and our Gma took us to get our ears pierced, and we weren’t even as old as our mom said we should be to do it!”
Which has nothing to do with the wedding or being a flower girl, but has everything to do with a small moment taking up a big space in their childhood memory bank… and that’s worth each and every cotton ball.
