My son William came to me yesterday and declared his intention of obtaining a tattoo.
Oh, God.
I know tattoos have grown in popularity. I’ve seen studies where upward of twenty percent of the population sports body art. Most Hollywood celebrities have one or more tattoos. Here, two words come to mind: Angela Jolie.
So what is a real woman to do?
Well, first I sputtered.
Then I asked why he wanted a tattoo.
He said he “just does.” Unfortunately for me, that’s been a good enough reason for some of my own choices.
Sensing my reluctance by the fact I began pulling out my hair, he went on the attack.
“Granny has a tattoo,” he said.
It’s true. My Mom, the original flower child, has a rose tattoo just over her heart.
“Aunt Mary has tattoos,” he said.
Another fact I couldn’t deny although I did point out that Mary had the name of her first husband tattooed on her backside and regrets it.
I suggested getting a tattoo is a big decision, one not easily changed.
This elicited a long suffering sigh.
I suggested he is too young. (He’ll begin high school this fall.)
“Granny was my age when she got her tattoo,” he shot back, a fact only slightly exaggerated.
Then, I took refuge in the excuse of mothers everywhere desirous of hoping to postpone an argument with their children. I told him I was busy and we’d talk about it later.
After he stalked out, I was left to grapple with my instinctive reluctance to give him the go-ahead on something that is accepted so readily today.
They’ve gone mainstream, I told myself. Everyone has them, even members of my own family. Then I had the vision of bathing his beautiful little body when he was a baby. And superimposed the image of a dragon on his little chest. Oh, God. Oh, God.
Okay. So, what’s your problem, Lesli with no e, I asked myself. What do you have against tattoos? Nothing, I answered honestly, I don’t have anything against them, in fact, I think some are extremely attractive.
After a few minutes, well, really more like a sleepless night, I came to the conclusion that William wants one because he thinks it’ll make him somehow more interesting to his peers.
But he’s interesting now. He has plenty of friends, too many I think sometimes after picking up after a Saturday when they’ve all been here. He’s a good student and an athlete. A tattoo isn’t going to make him more or less interesting.
So, I’ve come to the conclusion I’m going to make him wait. (Despite his grandmother, he’s still very young for this kind of decision.) I’ll play the game all mothers are experts at…attrition. Then, we’ll see if this is just a passing enthusiasm. And, we’ll talk. In the meantime, I’m going to do a little research on the subject of tattoos. I’ll let you know what I discover.