Jet Age

My daughter was barely four days old when the Nurse tending to us at home pierced her ear lobe with fake earrings. As the day progressed, I noticed the ear lobe had a patch of blood cloth around the piercing, and it was also getting darker.

The earring was also looking faded, and I called the Nurse attention to it, but she told me, it's part of the healing process. The more I would want to ignore, the more the piercing site irritates me.

By the sixth day, I couldn't take it anymore, so I called the Nurse to come take it off, and she didn't show up.

By now my mom had taken over our recovery process and the Nurse was now fully back at the hospital she was working. All effort to get her to come undo the earrings she put on my daughter's ear proved abortive as she kept posting us.

On the seventh day, I asked my mom to take her to another Nurse who owns a pharmacy in the area, but I could not tag along as I was weak and not fully healed yet.

My mom and my daughter went and came back with the bad earrings removed. As I was inspecting the piercing, I noticed the ear lobe was coming off. Long story short, the pierced part that was already darkened came off, as it was rotten. It was a really trying time for us and the father warned to let her ear be.

Thus, no more piercing. He even refused us getting an ear repair surgery done so we just let the ear lobe heal and take shape.

Fast-forward now, one day, I had just picked her up from school and what she greeted me with was that she wanted her ears pierced.

In her argument, all her classmates have earrings on, and she’s tired of them always asking her why her ears were not pierced. I do not even want to talk about how babies would leave ABCD they ought to be reciting to talk about who has piercing and who doesn’t.

I went on to tell her ok no problem but let her discuss it with her father, whatever he says, we will do. The moment I mentioned that to her, her countenance changed. I asked her what's wrong and with a teary voice, she said, “but I told you about it just now, and you said ok”.

I still haven’t understood the set-up yet, so I said, “yes, I know I said ok to your request, but your father still has the final say”.

She kept grumbling saying so long I have said yes, she doesn’t need her father’s approval again. I was really shocked at her utterances, but that was just half of it. I insisted on her calling her father, so I gave her the phone to call him, but she got even more angered and forcefully gave me back the phone that she did not want piercing again.

I’m like ah, ah? Just like that? No more piercing? She said yes, and went further to say, since I will not allow her to have one, she is no longer interested. See how she intelligently twisted words and is now doing me emotional blackmail?

She knew her father would not approve, so she was trying to cut corners to go through me.

I did not even know that this child, was still bearing a grudge.

One time I was taking her to school, and she started with the demands that she wanted a crown for her birthday because she is a queen and also a balloon with cake and juice, I told her no problem you will get them. She was even specific as she said she wanted us to get the crown and balloon from Shoprite with other items attached.

I told her not to worry we will make it happen and the next thing that came out of this child’s mouth was that “This one you already agreed not the one you will later tell me to go and inform my father first o because it is you I am asking to buy the birthday items for me not my father.”

I was so embarrassed as all attention was now on us in the vehicle. Immediately, I corrected her right there as it's a formative process for her, whatever I can’t trash out now will stick.

I told her that with her, her father has the final say and I cannot make any decision concerning her without informing first, so she better get use to communicating with her father. She was down alright, but not like the other time. She just said ok mommy and we continued our journey.

PS
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