I hate it!

Hey, it'll be alright...my younger son had been telling his dad and me that he wanted to get a tattoo for a whole year and we always managed to blow him off until he turned 18 and we discovered after the fact that a friend of his had paid for him to have one done...it's a religious cross with some greenery wrapped around it and is located right between his shoulder blades on his upper back..at least it's not noticeable unless he is shirtless and you are behind him. I wasn't happy at first but I realized that it had been something that he had wanted for a long time and if that's the worst he ever does, I can live with it. It is actually quite tasteful for a tattoo and at least he chose a religious symbol. He is a good Christian young man and I am too proud of him to let this symbol of self-expression come between us...in the grand scheme of things it really is nothing to be concerned about. I was just happy that he didn't choose something like a "barbed wire" tattoo that encircled his arm or something real noticeable like that. I had told him that one of my main objections to him getting a tattoo was the health risk involved. At least he choose a good clean place that used new needles. His friend had gotten several tattoos there and was familiar with the place so that made me feel a lot more secure..I am not saying that I condone young people getting tattoos but I am saying that it's not the end of the world and we moms will still love them in spite of it.


Ann

Recently BK came back from the dentist after having a couple of fillings fixed..and his face was still numb.

He stopped by to see his dad on the way back to school...told hubby, "Hey, my face it still numb. This would be a good time to get a tongue ring."

A woman in the office said, "But, it will hurt when all that wears off..."

And his father promptly said, "Yes, and when I rip it out of your mouth...that's gonna hurt, too."

Fortunately he was kidding...

BUT...oldest son who will be 30 got 2 tattoos after he graduated from high school...while in the Marines...one is Calvin in army garb...and the other is Japenese symbol for love...or so he thinks...

We lived through it...and so did he...LOL

Groan.......I'm about to sound like my parents BUT....
I think tatoos are really important to "the younger generation". For one thing, they don't like to think about long term consequences.
I love to see these little thin girls with these HUGE tatoos on their lower backs right above their low-rise jeans. All I can think is...."Boy is she going to be sorry after she's had two or three kids and that thing starts to look like a comic stretched in silly putty".
BUT, it's one of those things they think they really need to fit in and "express themselves"

What I told my son, after nearly bursting his eardrums reminding him it wouldn't be before he was 18, is that if he's going to do it, then he should pick something that's really meaningful to him.
That way, when he's 40 and w/ a son of his own he can tell him why he got it and what it meant to him then and now. No naked girls, no "weird" symbols.
I love my kids, but who could have know it would be this hard????

_______________________
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

Our son has wanted a tatoo for a long time, and I have kept telling him "not till you are 21". As far as I know, he has NOT been tatooed, but then, I don't see every inch of his skin these days. His choice in "art" has changed over the years, and he is leaning towards some Christian symbol. He really likes the broken chain around the bicep, but he can't do anything like that until after he is done at UCR ... the coaches have asked the players to not get tatooed, tho as I understand it, some have arrived there with them already in place.

I agree with the idea that we have to pick our battles ... and this is far less damaging than some choices that other young people are making.

MrsB ...

I am chuckling at the image of the young ladies turned middle-aged moms with the "silly putty" look across their backsides ... won't they be horrified when that happens?

Heck, I am still threatening the hip-hugging penguin on my right "cheek" ...

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Go HIGHLANDERS !!!
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MRandMrsB-Just sat here LOL when I read your post! How true about the tatoos on the lower back. I just keep saying the same thing but I didn't think about the way it'll look after kids! I like the girls dressed up for work in dresses and the big tatoos on their calves! Oh god.
My son has wanted a tatoo for years now and we said not til he's 18. Well, he's 18 and still hasn't gotten it. His nickname is Burddog so he's wanted a Red Dog (the beer symbol) with a tiny bird on his head. I have to admit that it does sound cute and would have meaning for the rest of his life. At least it's not some girls name to be stuck w/for the rest of eternity! Not a big enough battle for me to fight about. Look at it this way - at least it's not an earring sticking out of his eyebrow! That I could not deal with. I can't even look at people with those things!

Matt called while he was on spring break and asked if he could get a tattoo, I said "NO". He asked if he could call Dad, I said sure b/c I thought Dad would say NO also.....Well 2 hrs later I called hubby at night job and found out he said YES.... Can't repeat the rest of the conversation....SO my son has a tribal wrap on the upper part of his bicep. It's not my favorite thing.....but it has become a part of him and he doesn't go around trying to show it off...thank goodness!!!
If this is the worst thing he does I feel fortunate.

I love it! I have a tatoo and my sons don't and I wouldn't let them get a tatoo, but not for the reasons that most parents would claim. I wanted them to find a piece of art that represents who they were emotionally and spiritually. Too many young people make hasty decisions about body art, not realizing that what was cute and trendy at 16 is going to be absolutely ridiculious at 30. It took me 6 yrs to finally decide on the piece of art that caputured my aura and spirit.

GO NAVY!!!BEAT army!!!!!

I had a while to let it sink in, and read your posts. I feel better about it. Highlander mom...you're right, the boy has caused me little if any real grief and is proving his responsiblity. And Hotmama...he did spend a couple of years thinking about it, and when he re-explained the meaning, it was obvious it does have a deep meaning for him. Thanks all.

"There's no crying in baseball!"

My 25 y/o daughter and I are like oil and water...If I say black she says white etc...well,when she turned 18 and out of parental control,she rushed to Rhode Island for her 2 tatoos....I was horrified...I am dead set against markings on the body...end up with enough of them as we age(liver spots)...and I have this vision...that Celtic Cross on her right **** should look like a pitchfork with weeds as she ages cause as we all know nothing on our bodies goes North ever again and that rose on her ankle...well a wilted flower it will be....so at age 80 when she is sitting on her front porch in a rocker she can turn to her associates and say "so Brittany and Tiffany and Mandy what were your tatoos orininally"they can say "heyMel how doyou get those bifocals on with that eyebrow ring on"...fortunetly I won't see it all but I hope she hears in her head 'I told you so"

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I've been thru the tatoo issue twice. First with our oldest who wanted to get the bicep wrap barbed wire, when he was in high school.

Told us he wanted it because Shaun Ellis (huge d-lineman from the Univ. of Tennessee and now NY Jets) had it. My answer was that he could get his arm tatooed when they were as big as Shaun's.

His junior year of college he comes to the house to show off his new artwork. A full bicep wrap - top and underside. He explained that real men did both sides. My answer was, or too dense to feel pain, or something like that. His logic .... His arms were now a big as Shaun's. And I could not disagree.

Next up the younger son, my level headed baseball player. Yeah right.

It seems that during his freshman year of college several of his teammates went out and got tatooed one nite!

Turns out that he was in the group and did get a tatoo. Mom had found out about it a couple of weeks earlier. One day after a ballgame we were at his apartment when I noticed a bruise on his upper left bicep. I asked how he got the bruise. He quickly changed the subject, so the parental radar went into overdrive.

Anyway it turns out he got two small chinese symbols that are supposed to represent his name.... about the size of a half dollar.

I think that I confused both my son and wife. I started laughing so hard I was crying. Two reasons, first it was so small that it barely qualified as a tatoo and second .... how many chinese people do you know named Andy?

I agree with HotMama that careful consideration should be given to any permanent body adornments.

Bob,
"Doing nothing is still a course of action"

"How many Chinese people do you know named Andy?" Too funny! Did he have any response to that?

Bob:

Maybe we all should get the HSBBWEB tatoos in 2004.

GO NAVY!!!BEAT army!!!!!

The newest "hot" business is now "Too" removal---yes they can be removed--PAINFULLY and for LOTS OF $$$$$

TRhit