Tattoos, Tongue Piercings and Trouble

Tattoos, Tongue Piercings and Trouble
1/21/09

My daughter had her BFF (Best Friend Forever) spend the night this past weekend. I love it when she has her friends over. Mo is pretty much always a pouty teenager towards me, so it richly warms my heart when I get to watch her and BFF laughing over silly stuff. Their most recent game of choice is trying to beat each other up and leave bruises. It’s a love/hate relationship I guess.

Mo doesn’t like to laugh and giggle with her dorky mom much. She absolutely dreads it when I sit on her bed and try to talk “girl stuff” with her. The only girl stuff she wants to talk about with me is when she needs monthly girl products or more Mac makeup. You can imagine how excited I was when I got to lay across the bed with Mo and BFF and look at all the songs that BFF had on her laptop, songs that she was going to put on Mo’s iPod for her. I didn’t hesitate for one minute to get up and dance when I found Madonna’s “Holiday” on the laptop. BFF laughed and Mo promptly turned bright red from embarrassment. (She obviously embarrasses easily…I don’t dance that bad.)

In Mo’s eyes, things went from bad to VERY bad when BFF casually mentioned, “Your mom hasn’t seen THE pictures yet.” To which I replied… “Pictures? You have pictures to show me?” As BFF navigated to the pictures file on her laptop, I watched as Mo’s uncomfortable red tint promptly returned to her face. I think she was terrified that I was now going to dance to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” or possibly break out in a Michael Jackson moonwalk.

Now, what does this have to do with Tattoos, Tongue Piercings and Trouble you ask?

Well, according to the Kiersey Temperament Sorter test, I am a “Guardian” personality type , I like to follow the rules. I don’t just “like” to follow the rules… I get down-right uncomfortable if someone suggests we stray from the rules just a little itsy bitsy teeny bit.

So my first thought about these pictures was “Oh My Gosh, what were the people in the store thinking?” Secondly, from my job at the local PD I know what great video surveillance they have in Wal-Mart. I couldn’t help but wonder what great entertainment the Loss Prevention Department got from watching this caper unfold. But after looking at all the pictures and having the biggest, rolling on the floor, eyes watering, giggle session I have had in a VERY long time, I realized that it’s not as if my daughter and her BFF took a trip to town and came home with Tattoos and Tongue Piercings or got a free ride home in the back of a cop car. They didn’t damage any products, steal anything, or give anyone a “flat tire” with the shopping cart.

Ultimately, I abandoned my “Guardian” temperament and decided I should embrace the “Artisan” part of me that must be buried way down there somewhere. I should rejoice in all the fun they had making this montage of photos and realize that the girls probably made a lot of people chuckle as they pushed their carts full of items through the store. At least they likely got their minds off the crummy economy and their empty pocket- books for a while.

Hope you find yourself wiping tears of laughter from your eyes as much as I did. At the very least I hope your view of teenage humanity is restored by watching two girls having a good time with nothing more than a digital camera and a trip to the local Wal-mart store.