had been wanting to get my nipples pierced for months but my mom gave me a great alternative. Since I was 16 she would take me to get my tongue pierced if I stopped talking about my nipples. What a deal, my mom taking me, I wouldn't have to lie about my age and she would be there at my side! So it was decided, sometime in the future mom would take me in to get my tongue done. Since we lived in Lake Tahoe we had to choose where to travel to, Sacramento or Reno. After researching and talking to tons of people I decided on Sub-Q in Sacramento. My mom and I drove the 2-hour drive and proceeded on running errands for hours until mom finally said the magic words, "Ok, what are those directions?" Well after getting lost a few times we found the shop. I wasn't nervous at all, just super excited. When we walked in I noticed that the shop was very boring, there was nothing on the walls, nothing anywhere except for a display case with nothing in it and a couch. It turned out the shop was in the process of moving so they had all most all the stuff moved to the new location.

After discussing the whole moving situation I bravely said, " I would like to

get my tongue pierced". The lady asked how old I was and my mom promptly answered that I was sixteen. The lady then proceeded to tell my mom that she could not pierce me because I was under age. My mom, being my mom was attempting to convince this woman that I was really her daughter but to no avail. It was not looking good. "You need a birth certificate", said the lady, well living in Tahoe we couldn't just run home and get it. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying the shop should have just let me do it with out taking the proper precautions. I understand that there are laws that need to be followed and I am thankful for those laws. I understand that those laws help keep the shops and I safe from harm, let it be physical or financial. After me and my mom pleaded and begged, we had one final thought, our licenses, since the addresses on my moms and mine licenses matched and we look so much alike, she let us go ahead to the next step, the paper filling out. That took a few seconds then we had to wait, and wait. There were 3 other people ahead of me for various piercing. So me and by mom bonded over tattoo magazines, it was great.

When it was my turn to walk into the back room my stomach got so upset, I was

so happy that my mom was there to help me through it. The woman who was going to pierce my tongue was great. She explained everything before she even started to prepare, so that I would understand all aspects of the piercing and how she was going to do it. Then as she unwrapped and prepared all the tools and solutions she once again explained what she was doing. She marked my tongue, she put it in the perfect spot, not to close to the tip to where I would slur but far enough back to where it could bee seen every know and then, like when I would laugh. At this point my mom was more nervous than I was! The piercer did not use a clamp she held my tongue with her hands, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, and she told me to breath deeply and concentrate on making each of my breaths the same length. As I was breathing my breaths she began counting to three, one ... two.... Three..... WOW it was done, it didn't hurt at all, I have bitten my tongue ten times that before! She then slid the jewelry in and once again explained how to care for my tongue. It didn't hurt at all for the whole drive home. Then next day, that's when the pain and the swelling arrived. I hadn't told any of my friends and I was going to surprise them. So boy were they surprised when I couldn't talk the next day at school : )

I was able to eat solid foods the day after at about four o'clock in the

after noon. The swelling went down after about 5 days, at that point all I had to do was concentrate on not biting the barbell and breaking my teeth. I continued to rinse 3 times a day with my good ol' Listerine for about a month and a half. My tongue was healed in about, 2.5 months. I have had my tongue ring for 2 years, I now have a 4-gauge barbell that my mom hates, but oh well. I love my tongue ring!