Inked Mom-hood

This month we celebrated Mother’s Day, a joyful and happy event for many. But I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge upfront that Mother’s Day can bring many hard feelings as well. For those with memorial tattoos for their mother, we see you and mourn with you. For those who pray for motherhood but haven’t had that experience, we hold your hand in waiting. For those who are estranged, we step in as chosen family. For those who have lost a pregnancy or child, we weep with you.

I can’t tell you that I understand. We all have our own experiences. When I lost my second pregnancy, getting my rib piece helped me heal, and I treasure it greatly even if it’s the tattoo I show off the least because of its emotional nature. I have a plan to get some sort of adoption tattoo because my third child was adopted after I experienced secondary infertility following my pregnancy with my middle child. But whatever your struggle, know that you’re loved and welcome into this little inked family. And we see you.

This Mother’s Day also brings an interesting thought: it is thought-provoking being a tattooed mom. Which is odd to even write. The amount of times I’ve heard “now that you have kids, you’re done with the tattoos right?” is unfortunate. I get it on some level, even if I don’t agree with it. “Traditionally”, the suburban, stay-at-home, homeschooling mom in our culture would not be inked. Being tattooed held a certain stigma until relatively recently and even though approximately a third of all Americans are tattooed, that stigma seems to carry over to moms.

I’m blessed to be called “mommy” by three wonderful little humans: Emma, six-years-old, loves everything princesses, unicorns, and mermaids; Sammy, three-years-old, loves Spiderman, dinosaurs, and pikachu; and Teddy, one-year-old, who loves music, clapping, and trying to walk. Most of my day is spent chasing the kids, homeschooling, and running to various activities. And I wouldn’t change it for anything.

I’ve also been lucky to share some really neat tattoo experiences with my kids. I got my koala tattoo when Emma was twenty-months-old, and her favorite word for a good two months was “koala” while pointing to her wrist. She did try to replicate the tattoo with a blue marker and let me tell you, blue marker takes forever to wash off. But she was pretty happy with herself and proudly showed off her blue blob saying “koala” to everyone she spoke to.

Sammy and Emma were both a part of my craziest tattoo experience. The plan was to meet my husband after work at Lucky Strike Tattoo and he would take the kids (then 3-years-old and 9-months-old) back home while I got tattooed. It was a stormy day, and about a minute away from the studio my phone went off: Take immediate shelter, tornado imminent. I sped into the parking lot and saw some people peeking out of the studio door. I asked if the kids and I could shelter (the studio was luckily underground), and not only did they say yes, they ran out into the pouring rain to help me. While sheltering, the artists all humored my three-year-old who gave them several renditions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and kept pointing at everything asking "what's that"? The electricity went out, so I wasn't tattooed that day, but they had a surprise opening the next day and I got my back piece then! I'll never forget the kindness of all the artists and staff of Lucky Strike!

My favorite tattoo experience (ever, not just with one of my kids) was this past Valentine's Day when Emma came to hold my hand. She's been asking to go to the convention with her father and me for the past two years, but we always told her no (too long of a day for a kid). I knew this tattoo wouldn't take too long, and I was going to a local shop, so it was the perfect opportunity for her to come with me! Honestly, huge kudos to Beneath the Skin Tattoo for giving her the best experience (and me a great tattoo). They made a miniature version of the stencil and put it on her as a temporary tattoo so that we could match for a while. They explained what they were doing whenever she had a question and happily kept chatting with her. She, and Sammy, have been wearing random temporary tattoos since.