Well, I guess it was bound to happen: the kid got ink.
My daughter sent me an e-mail yesterday upset because my grandson got a tattoo on his torso—a very large tattoo I might add [a photo was included]. Boy, did I have to do some tongue-biting on this. She and her brother were around the age my grandson is now when they got their first bits of ink…
It was that winter in the mid-90s when we had about 3,000 days of something frozen coming from the sky—and the kids were bored out of their minds [I have videos to prove it. They did some weird stuff]. Well, a friend had just finished tattoo school—yeah, there are schools for that! Who knew? The guy needed the practice, so he told M and J that if they paid for the needles, he would do whatever they wanted. Oh, goodie, mommy’s so pleased.
Like I said, Mamma was not happy, but they were both over 18, what could I do…. So, M got a small [about an inch and a half high] dolphin just above her left ankle. And J got a surfboard company’s logo on his right calf. His was about 2” x 2.5.” Okay—not thrilled, but at least they are small and not real noticeable I thought. [You know, I’m looking ahead to college and job interviews—and wedding photos.]
About a month goes by and I come home from work one day to be greeted by my then 2 and a half year old grandson with “Mimi, look at my tat.” Now, you have to know that my grandson worshipped all things Uncle J—so my son had used non-toxic magic markers to reproduce his tattoo on the baby’s leg. “Niiicccee, J. He’ll go to daycare tomorrow, they’ll take him to the potty and they’ll think, ‘what is wrong with these people?!’”
M went on to get 2 more small tattoos at her bikini line: a rising sun at the front left and a sunflower at the rear right. J now has a whole “sleeve” to memorialize his father. [Uh, yeah—M raises almost 2 grand for suicide prevention in her father’s memory and J gets inked.....I know, we all grieve in our own way….]
Turns out my grandson’s tattoo is to honor his best friend, who was killed in a car accident leaving school one day. What can I say to that? This kid has suffered so much loss at such a young age, how can we deny him a way of expressing that loss.
I’ll give ya this one young man. Xoxo, “Meem”
My daughter sent me an e-mail yesterday upset because my grandson got a tattoo on his torso—a very large tattoo I might add [a photo was included]. Boy, did I have to do some tongue-biting on this. She and her brother were around the age my grandson is now when they got their first bits of ink…
It was that winter in the mid-90s when we had about 3,000 days of something frozen coming from the sky—and the kids were bored out of their minds [I have videos to prove it. They did some weird stuff]. Well, a friend had just finished tattoo school—yeah, there are schools for that! Who knew? The guy needed the practice, so he told M and J that if they paid for the needles, he would do whatever they wanted. Oh, goodie, mommy’s so pleased.
Like I said, Mamma was not happy, but they were both over 18, what could I do…. So, M got a small [about an inch and a half high] dolphin just above her left ankle. And J got a surfboard company’s logo on his right calf. His was about 2” x 2.5.” Okay—not thrilled, but at least they are small and not real noticeable I thought. [You know, I’m looking ahead to college and job interviews—and wedding photos.]
About a month goes by and I come home from work one day to be greeted by my then 2 and a half year old grandson with “Mimi, look at my tat.” Now, you have to know that my grandson worshipped all things Uncle J—so my son had used non-toxic magic markers to reproduce his tattoo on the baby’s leg. “Niiicccee, J. He’ll go to daycare tomorrow, they’ll take him to the potty and they’ll think, ‘what is wrong with these people?!’”
M went on to get 2 more small tattoos at her bikini line: a rising sun at the front left and a sunflower at the rear right. J now has a whole “sleeve” to memorialize his father. [Uh, yeah—M raises almost 2 grand for suicide prevention in her father’s memory and J gets inked.....I know, we all grieve in our own way….]
Turns out my grandson’s tattoo is to honor his best friend, who was killed in a car accident leaving school one day. What can I say to that? This kid has suffered so much loss at such a young age, how can we deny him a way of expressing that loss.
I’ll give ya this one young man. Xoxo, “Meem”
Ah! Tattoos! My son had two done, and I didn't have a clue. He kept them covered. He was not 18!! My SIL said, hey kid nice tattoo. I say, WHAT? Too late now...it was/is pretty. His was just total expression. LOL!
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SueAnn
i wish i could erase my tattoo i got when i was a just over 18! but, a rite of passage it is! luckily, the little guy's got a long way to go until he's legal--you can sigh for 16 more years and then watch out ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have three tats an dI love them all. I have had the first blue butterfly with my husband's name underneath it for 11yrs. the other two butterflies are on my shoulder and they have my boys names underneath. I don't regret them. Not one bit!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit to my blog. I singed up to follow yours :)
What a great attitude you have about it all. I have a "tramp stamp" that I thought was cool when I was 19. Ok, so I still do save for the recoloring that needs done, but when my family found out, they hit the roof. Of course then when my sister turned 18 and got her first bits of ink she aid "Well Amanda has one." And I also said back "Yes, and I was 19 and living on my own too." Aren't families fun?
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