We went to Costco on Friday, just me and the girls. There was a guy sitting outside of Costco that had a really impressive, really gigantic, really colorful tattoo of a dragon on his leg. It wrapped around his leg and he had some other tattoos on his arms and the other leg. But, the dragon was the best one. It's fair to say he was a fan of ink.
Claire was instantly drawn to this guy. I saw her staring at him while we got the cart and I put Charlotte in it. I could tell that she wanted to say something about him and I guessed it had to do with the dragon because hey, even I had noticed it and thought silently to myself, "I am not really into tattoos but that is one HELLUVA tat." She wasn't sure what to say or how to phrase it. Finally, she pointed at the man and in a very loud, admiring voice said,
"MOMMY! That man has STAMPS on his leg!"
(Pause)
"I LIKE 'EM!"
So. That was pretty funny.
***
When kids are good at her school they give out stamps on their hands as a reward. Claire also has lots of stamps here at home that she likes to play with and if I leave her alone with them for a microsecond she will stamp her arms all the way up to her shoulders with trains, airplanes and doggy paw prints in a rainbow of colors. (Whatever, they're washable.) At first I was mildly confused about the "stamps" part of her description, but it makes total sense that she thinks a tattoo is a "stamp." (A very elaborate, large stamp.)
Now I just have to work on the part about how some stamps are washable and some are permanent and Mommy would really prefer if you keep away from the permanent ones, but if you must get one at some point in your life, FTLOG please do not put it on your lower back. PLEASE. There are too many pop culture references to this location and just...please do not do that Claire. I figure I've got a couple of years to deliver that message but by then there will probably be a new version of the infamous Tramp Stamp that I don't even know about.
I don't have any tattoos. I remember a period in college where it seemed like everyone was going to the tattoo/body piercing shop to get something done. I remember briefly considering whether I wanted to join the crowd. I was far too squeamish to pierce my tongue and that idea didn't even appeal to me anyway. I never had the kind of navel that merited piercing and after my 5' 11" model roommate got hers pierced I was like, "There is no way I'm going to do that and then stand next to HER at the swimming pool to make for easy comparisons, HA HA NO."
As for a tattoo, I could never figure what bit of artwork I wanted to carry around with me forever or where I wanted to put it. I was very concerned about being able to hide it in a professional situation and also not having something frivolous or trendy that I was sure to grow tired of. I was also uncomfortable with the idea of a tattoo just for the sake of having a tattoo. So, I dithered on the topic for not very long (perhaps a weekend), left the idea behind and never returned to it due to a complete lack of interest on my part.
Now, as a 32-year-old mom of two? I AM SO GLAD I MADE THAT DECISION. I don't think tattoos are wrong and I don't have Opinions about them or the people that have them. They're just not right for me because I change my mind about certain things very frequently. I'm pretty sure anything I would have chosen as a twenty-year-old would not agree with me 12 years later. (Twenty-year-old me thought a pair of platform, red, faux-snakeskin boots were totally amazing and an excellent investment.)
This got me wondering, do you have a tattoo or piercing that you got a long time ago? Do you still like it? Would you have maybe done anything different? Location, size, color, artwork, care of it over time? I think I have heard that some tattoos fade or something in the sun? I know I have seen tons of people not apply sunscreen to theirs so I have always wondered about that. Plus, there's also the part about how I know MY body has changed a great deal since I was 20 and I wonder if I HAD gotten a tattoo if my wonky, has-had-two-babies body would, um, display the artwork as nicely as it had a decade ago (you know, depending on location). Or, perhaps you're shaking your head because you did make a great choice and you still love it.
Anyhoodle, tattoos. Claire likes them at two-years-old. That's definitely one for the baby book.
Ohohohoh! I always think about this! Three girls in my major in college (and there were only 30 of us, so we all knew each other) went to get tattoos our freshman year. One chickened out, one got a tramp stamp (before they were called that) of very elaborate scrollwork at the phrase "Treat me like an angel and I'll take you to heaven", and the third - the Tasmanian Devil with a halo and angel wings. On her shoulder. Where is was obvious with any tank top or dress.
Yah.
My first thought was, "OMG, you will regret that next week!"
My act of rebellion? I got second holes pierced in my ears that year. I had wanted them ever since I got the first ones done in 7th grade, but parents said "Uh, NO." They were a little iffy with them at first, but it grew on them. And I LOVE THEM. Always have. I know it's not nearly so drastic as tattoos or belly button or tongue piercing, but whatever. It's not *that* typical, so I'm still cool, right? :)
Posted by: Holly | June 12, 2011 at 09:52 AM
We went to a Padres game last weekend and the guy in front of us had quite a tattoo display, which I should add did not phase my daughter of a Marine. The promotion that night was a garden gnome and a Padres tattoo that you apply with water. When the guy heard her ask if she could put on her tattoo, he actually suggested she put it on her neck. An almost three year old with a neck tattoo... yeah right dude. She looked at him like he was crazy. I considered that a good thing!
Posted by: Courtney | June 12, 2011 at 09:57 AM
That is SO the reason I do not like tattoos. I can't think of anything that I think I will still like enough to have stuck on me when I am in my seventies. Also, my very first flash of thought when I see someone with a tattoo is that they've gotten something on themselves and it needs to be washed off. This is particularly bothersome to me when it is someone in food service and the tattoo is on their hands. (No, it isn't logical at all.)
Posted by: HereWeGoAJen | June 12, 2011 at 10:21 AM
I did the belly button piercing my freshman year of college. I'm pretty short (5'4") but I only weighed like 105 lbs so I think I pulled it off all right. I wore it through college and then let it close. Letting it close was the reason I went with a piercing anyway-- way less permanent than a tattoo. Senior year both my roommates got the infamous lower back tattoos and I am SO GLAD I didn't.
Posted by: Elsha | June 12, 2011 at 10:53 AM
Holly's story has me shuddering in great fear. I have NO problem with tattoos whatsoever and think a well-done tattoo can be beautiful. But if Emma EVER puts anything like the "angel" phrase above ANYWHERE on her body, I will be the one going to heaven, because I, friends, will have a freakin' heart attack.
For myself, I don't have any tattoos. For similar reasons to what you listed. And also, because I am afraid of pain.
Posted by: Katie | June 12, 2011 at 10:58 AM
I did all sorts of rebelious acts during college. First was the tongue piercing and then came the tatoo. I have a butterfly on the inside of my right ankle and while I love the butterfly(that's the meaning of my name)I probably would redo it in different colors. It's blue and purple with a yellow center.
I usually forget it's there but my 20 month old daughter found it the other day and has been in love with it ever since. It's not too big. 3" from top to bottom, but I do think when I'm in my 80'S it might be a bit strange. But I figure my support hose will cover it up :)
Posted by: Nessa | June 12, 2011 at 11:46 AM
I pierced my belly button on my 18th birthday specifically because it could be removed. When I was 21 I got a lower back tattoo (before they were referred to as tramp stamps but during the time that the lower back tattoo was popular). If I had to do it all over again, I'm not sure that I would. I don't necessarily mind my tattoo but I certainly don't love it (tribal art with a gerber daisy in the middle). I also don't ever show it. I always wear a tank top tucked in under my shirt - hides both the belly and the tattoo!
Posted by: Bre | June 12, 2011 at 12:02 PM
I don't have a tattoo but I am starting to want one. It dawned on me that even if I change, who I am today is relevant so it would be like carrying a little snapshot of who I was today, with me forever. I probably won't ever get one but there you have it.
Posted by: Lindsay | June 12, 2011 at 01:59 PM
I have a tramp stamp :)
I love it as much as the day I got it and I even call it a tramp stamp. It's INSANELY LOW. Like it rarely shows above my jeans low so it seriously hurt to get it but it was worth it. One day in the car Sprog made an almost derogatory comment about girls and their tramp stamps and that's when I had to remind him that one of his mother's three (currently) tattoos is a tramp stamp. He stammered, turned bright red, and said "but you're not a tramp, mom" and then I laughed A LOT. That right there was worth it.
Haha.
I diligently apply sunscreen on my tattoos and I will probably get them touched up eventually because their colors have faded a bit regardless. It's been 8 years since the first one so my body hasn't really changed all that much and I was done having kids before I started getting tattoos so that hasn't been a factor for me.
Sprog will most likely end up tattoo'd because I am, even though his father HATES them. I also had my belly button pierced once upon a time but I took it out before I had to have my surgeries and never had it done again.
Posted by: Raven | June 12, 2011 at 02:19 PM
I have four tattoos. I would change them now. And I would like another but I'm not exactly sure what I want and BigP made me promise not more...
I would change the placement on one (my upper arm). I never show my arms, even in weddings. I wear a shawl or jacket. So far brides have been ubber supportive because they don't really want them to show in their photos either.
One I would go back in time and NOT get but peer pressure. It is one of three along my spine. The placement is great on all three and they don't show either.
Um, you can tell I have a "thing" about them showing. They are art but they are for me...
Katherine noticed my arm one recently and she thought someone drew on me. I told her BigP did it and he should be in trouble because we don't draw on people...
Posted by: BigP's Heather | June 12, 2011 at 02:38 PM
As anyone who has seen my most recent blog post knows, I am quite heavily tattooed. My left arm is probably 60% covered, I have a tattoo on my right ring finger and one on the back of my neck. I do not regret any of them and plan to get even more.
All that said, I think there are good and bad ways to come at getting and having tattoos. I was raised by a heavily tattooed father and a lightly tattooed mother, so I never felt any sort of rebellion or stigma attached to getting work done, and I always assumed I would someday get it done. However, BECAUSE I was raised by tattooed people, I learned the ropes of how to approach a tattoo long before I got any. Just like European teens who drink but don't get belligerently drunk, because I was taught HOW to look on tattoos, I thought out all mine long and hard before getting them, got work done based around their significance to my life, and didn't sacrifice quality for price EVER.
Some of my tattoos I wouldn't get again, but they still mark the place where I was in my life at the time. Sometimes the idea or significance of the tattoo no longer applies in my life, but the mark still stands as my living history, where I was back then.
Now as for aging. Most of my tattoos have held up spectacularly well, one or two look like utter shit. The longevity of your tattoos is wholly dependant on two factors: the technical (not artistic) skill of your tattoo artist, and yes, your long-term treatment of your skin.
I wear sunscreen 365 days a year due to my lily whiteness and thus all my color is still pretty and bright and will be for a loooong time. Exposing your work to sun is a sure-fire way to fade and blur them. I also never got tattoos on anywhere that may significantly stretch or change. Thus no bellies, boobs, upper legs, or lower back for me.
Apologies this reply is getting novel-length but I read recently that 60% of American 24year-olds now have at least one tattoo. If Claire is already interested, it'll probably happen someday. As long as you guys talk about it with her as is appropriate to her age, you can totally prevent her getting ill-thought out work. I know, because my parents did the same exact thing.
Posted by: Shilo | June 12, 2011 at 04:16 PM
I have two, one on my back (of a flower, so original 18-yr-old Jennie!) and one on my foot, that I got at 25, right after our wedding.
I don't regret the first because I so rarely actually SEE it, so that helps, and also because when I do see it, I think of that 18 year old and kind of miss her, kind of think fondly of her, kind of shake my head at her stupidity, and it's nice to have something that without fail takes me back to BEING her.
I love my second, absolutely love it. It has a lot of meaning to me, and I am still happy each and every time I glance down at it.
Already planning my third.
Seriously, how are you friends with ridiculous me?
Posted by: Jennie | June 12, 2011 at 09:42 PM
I have no body-piercing save earrings -- I'm Italian, it's a wonder they weren't pierced when I was a newborn -- and no tattoos. I remember fondly when friends were doing both and I could just never commit. I don't think that piercings suit me. And while I don't mind the look of tattoos, there is just don't love their permanence.
And I'm also totally out of the loop because I hadn't heard the phrase 'tramp stamp' until this post. Am so old.
Posted by: Sarah in Ottawa | June 12, 2011 at 10:58 PM
I never did get a tattoo, for all the reasons you didn't, and now I'm thinking that was a GREAT choice. I think peoole our age without tattoos are rare, so now I like that NOT having a tattoo make me unique. My husband and his 3 brothers all have a cross with UNITY and their last name, and that is cool and nothing none of them will regret.
Posted by: Home Sweet Sarah | June 13, 2011 at 04:42 AM
Or *something none of them will regret. WHATEVER, it's early/late/I'm tiiiiiiired!
Posted by: Home Sweet Sarah | June 13, 2011 at 04:46 AM
I have an angel on my (upper!) back as a tribute to my guardian angel who kept me alive through my teenage years. I still love it. Funny story, a friend recently got married and had eight girls in her wedding party. We ALL had at least one tattoo, including the bride. You can tell the big trend when we all turned 18!
Posted by: heather | June 13, 2011 at 06:18 AM
I wasn't allowed to pierce my ears until 7th grade and in H.S. I got second holes, which I no longer use, but they are oddly visible.
I got my tongue pierced about 8 seconds after I moved to college. I took it out a year later because I got mono and had to get IV fluids. That sucked and I didn't get anyting else pierced.
I never got a tattoo for the same reasons everyone else mentioned... not sure what to get and where. My one sister has 3 and my brother has one that I know of. My other sister isn't really the tattoo type.
Posted by: Maura | June 13, 2011 at 07:45 AM
Like Sarah, I didn't know what a tramp stamp was. I don't even have the excuse of being from a different country! I have heard the phrase before, and knew it applied to tattoos, but had no idea what kind of tattoo.
Posted by: Jessica | June 13, 2011 at 08:35 PM