Your Kids and Tattoos

[knucklehead211]

Oh man, all this reminds me of my first experience with tattoos and little ones. My neice had just turned one. She was really growing into her personality, so I felt more comfortable picking her up and playing games with her (no surprise her first word was uncle!). So I'm holding her, and she reaches down to try and peel the skull on my bicep off, and says "ouch!" (she always said that when she touched a booboo). I was laughing so hard! Out of her and her two brothers, she's been the only one to really notice. It'll be interesting to see whether I get any more silly reactions come summer time

[Katy32]

My son is 8 and he has never known his mommy without tattoos. When he was little he liked to take a paintbrush with water and pretend he was painting them on me. Then when he was 4 or 5 he was afraid to touch them. This past summer he walked up to so many people at the waterpark and asked to see their ink and talked to them about it. I am sure he will end up getting some in the future. He insists he wants to be a chef and is more interested currently in investing in cookbooks/cooking apps and trying new foods than talking about if and when he can get a tattoo. I would imagine when the time comes I will take him for his first one and pay for it. I want him to know what good work is and how to find a good artist.

[iowagirl]

My kids like to do tons of temporary ones, our son in particular will put 70 all over his body and then strut around w/no shirt on in the summer. I can see him getting one when he's older. Our daughter...she's a wuss about pain. Like good gawd freak out if there's a needle involved, even if it's not for her. She asked a while back if it hurts to get a tattoo, I said yes. She asked why I do it. I said b/c I want them, and if you want something and it hurts, and you don't do it/get it, then you don't really want it. Having kids hurts, so if I couldn't handle hours and hours...and hours and hours of insane labor only to end up w/a C section-how would I have had her? "Ohhhhh..it hurts to have a baby?" YES. So you need to be SURE what you want to do, ha!

They have to wait till they're 18 here, and I would make sure to talk w/them a lot about what they might want. I don't have a problem w/text, so long as it's not an entire book, one line of text isn't awful. I've got a line of text I've thought about. And just b/c *I* don't like something doesn't mean someone else isn't thrilled w/it, even if 5000 other people have the exact same thing b/c they saw it on pinterest. I'm not about to put down someone else's work.

[xcom]

My son has been begging me to take him to this weekend's tattoo convention... Not sure if I am ready to be expose him to that env... We will see..

[LizBee]

I have a 22-year-old and 14-year-old twins. They never paid a bit of attention to my tattoos until recently when I had coverup work done, changing things in a noticeable way.

My 22-year-old has done stick-and-pokes on herself, but very, very tiny ones, so far only on her big toe and ankle. I got her to do one on me, a bee on my knee, because I'm a medical person and I wanted to be sure she was using proper technique, especially if she decides to do them on others. I gave her disinfecting wipes, gloves, and drapes and stuff, and she did a great job on me, with good India ink. I'd rather have a machine than a stick-and-poke, though. I can zen out with the buzzing but the poking is really irritating and hard to get into a rhythm with, since it is slow.

One of the twins came to me with a design on her hand written with Sharpie, and she told me that she was figuring out what kind of tattoo she wants. I told her she wasn't getting anything until 18, and even then to consider things very, very carefully, especially placement as it relates to her job plans. She's thinking about law enforcement and a hand tattoo is not going to fly!

I don't object to the idea of 18-year-olds getting tattoos that they may someday regret, because tattoos are a reflection of your life's journey, to me, and they may require revamping or covering up at some point, but that doesn't have to be a big deal. As long as they're in a spot that can be hidden, when necessary, then there's no real issue. I didn't start getting tattooed until I was in my early 30s, but even when you're more mature you can make dumb tattoo decisions. I don't have any regrets about my own, but I have a friend in her 50s who got a completely awful one that she wishes she hadn't.

[Suiren]

My son ( 3 1/2) likes my "pictures" but he is not fond of new plans at first because it is a change on his mommy. He likes them after though and asks me to get dinosaurs or other animals he likes ;).

He also likes my piercings and he is growing his hair long because he likes to headbang :D I have an awesome kid.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Suiren
epic phone related typos

[xcom]

My son ( 3 1/2) likes my "pictures" but he is not fond of new plans at first because it is a change on his mommy. He likes them aftee though and asks me to get dinosaurs or other animals he likes ;).

He also likes my piercings and he is growing his hair long because he likes to beadbang :D I have an awesome kid.

lol kids! Gota love them :D

My youngest wants to get pterodactyl on his back and move his arms as if the pterodactyl is flaying... lol :D

[Suiren]

lol kids! Gota love them :D

My youngest wants to get pterodactyl on his back and move his arms as if the pterodactyl is flaying... lol :D

Now that is really creative! Wow!

[s3rndpt]

My daughters (9 & 5) love mine---I now have a very stylized triskele on my inner forearm, made of vines with roses and thistles. It kinda symbolizes myself and my two girls--and they love looking at it and picking out which flower they "are." My left arm is covered in large Art Nouveau peonies, in their favorite colors (purple and pink, and soon to be blue), and I have Egyptian Revival shoulder caps-- scarabs on one side and a lotus on the other, both of which they think are "pretty." To them, Mommy is just getting fancy things to wear on herself--they don't really see it as anything other than normal. And that's exactly the way I want it. Neither has made any noise about wanting any of their own, but I'm sure they will eventually.

[iowagirl]

My daughters (9 & 5) love mine---I now have a very stylized triskele on my inner forearm, made of vines with roses and thistles. It kinda symbolizes myself and my two girls--and they love looking at it and picking out which flower they "are." My left arm is covered in large Art Nouveau peonies, in their favorite colors (purple and pink, and soon to be blue), and I have Egyptian Revival shoulder caps-- scarabs on one side and a lotus on the other, both of which they think are "pretty." To them, Mommy is just getting fancy things to wear on herself--they don't really see it as anything other than normal. And that's exactly the way I want it. Neither has made any noise about wanting any of their own, but I'm sure they will eventually.

have you posted pics of your peonies? I'd love to see them-they're one of my favorite flowers!

[Suiren]

@s3rndpt

Your tattoos sound great! I like the tattoo in progress you posted too.

My son sees tattoos (and piercings) the same way. To him it is fancy and pretty like jewelry or make up. He calls me "princess mommy" :)

[s3rndpt]

have you posted pics of your peonies? I'd love to see them-they're one of my favorite flowers!

I haven't, but mostly because this forum tends to favor more traditional stuff, so I didn't want to get yelled at ;) . But, my artist posted some instagram pictures here: https://instagram.com/p/19SHHPDgG2/?taken-by=amyblacktattoos and here: https://instagram.com/p/1-1bZbjgEo/?taken-by=amyblacktattoos

Sleeve is not done, obviously...but hopefully by the end of the summer. When done it'll all look more cohesive, I swear :)

[OutOfIdeas]

@s3rndpt i think you'd be surprised; this forum seems to have a soft spot for a well done Peonie, and those are gorgeous!

[LizBee]

@s3rndpt Amy Black is one of my fave's. She does wonderful work and is on my short list for future art. Love floral pieces! Are you in Richmond?

[s3rndpt]

@s3rndpt Amy Black is one of my fave's. She does wonderful work and is on my short list for future art. Love floral pieces! Are you in Richmond?

Yep :) You too?

I love Amy---we spend the entire time babbling about geeky things like Star Wars and Daredevil and Comic Con. She's great to work with too!

[LizBee]

Yep :) You too?

I love Amy---we spend the entire time babbling about geeky things like Star Wars and Daredevil and Comic Con. She's great to work with too!

I'm in Richmond, and will actually be having some work done by Katie Davis (Salvation) in August. There are so many great artists in this town!

[iowagirl]

I haven't, but mostly because this forum tends to favor more traditional stuff, so I didn't want to get yelled at ;) . But, my artist posted some instagram pictures here: https://instagram.com/p/19SHHPDgG2/?taken-by=amyblacktattoos and here: https://instagram.com/p/1-1bZbjgEo/?taken-by=amyblacktattoos

Sleeve is not done, obviously...but hopefully by the end of the summer. When done it'll all look more cohesive, I swear :)

Gorgeous! I have three peonies and hopefully more soon!

[UglyButProud]

A few years ago, my little dude came to me with his shirt off and a temp tattoo placed smack dab in the middle of his chest... He puffs up and says " when I'm old enough I'm going to get tattoos JUST LIKE YOU daddy!!!"

With a sly smile, I reply to him " Oh yeah, that's cool...but what makes you wanna get tattooed??" He says "because I want to be a bad guy and people will be scared to mess with me" I ask him if he thinks I'm a "bad guy" and people are scared of me because of the tattoos. He says "No. I know you're not a bad guy but I don't think that other people who see you, know that". "plus, all the villains in movies have them and....." he makes the knife with his finger going across his throat "they do bad things". I tried the best I could to explain that I could to his 5 year old brain that tattoos are NOT just for bad guys, a lot of "regular" people have them too.

I showed him that photo last night and asked him if he remembered that conversation we had and if he still wanted to get tattoos just like daddy, when he grew up. "Nah, everyone has tattoos now...plus , Mom would probably kill me". we had a good laugh.....

[Suiren]

@UglyButProud

That is the most adorable and funny story!

[Manu Manu]

my oldest son is 7, he likes my tattoos, he's pretty good in art and drawing, sometimes he draw on himself to pretend

he's tattooed too. One day he did himself a a big abdomen piece he kept during 1 week!

My other son is 5 and the only tattoo he wants will be his mummy's portrait on his abdomen!

It seems my lil'one changed his mind! he's now working on his hands! :) https://instagram.com/p/156lYfll4G/?taken-by=kizzzmiazzz

[Suiren]

Gosh and starting on his hands!:D

[UglyButProud]

My 13 year old daughter draws all over her hands these days.... I facetiously asked if she was figuring out the designs she was going to eventually get tattooed.

All I get is eye rolls and "shut up DAAAADDD!

My buddy brought up a good point about alternative lifestyles and kids:

"if you raise your kids on punk rock/tattoos and a non-mainstream lifestyle, how will they rebel when the time comes? Will they become nerds, go to church and listen to Coldplay???"

[LizBee]

My 13 year old daughter draws all over her hands these days.... I facetiously asked if she was figuring out the designs she was going to eventually get tattooed.

All I get is eye rolls and "shut up DAAAADDD!

My buddy brought up a good point about alternative lifestyles and kids:

"if you raise your kids on punk rock/tattoos and a non-mainstream lifestyle, how will they rebel when the time comes? Will they become nerds, go to church and listen to Coldplay???"

I'm with you! My 14-year-old drew an arrow in the inside of her ring finger the other day. Questioning her only results in heavy sighs and eye rolls, lol.

Your buddy's point is valid. You can't shock your parents with tattoos or piercings anymore, and kids today aren't angry at their parents anymore, so that's the reason (my theory, anyway) modern "rock" sounds like folk music today.

[UglyButProud]

I'm with you! My 14-year-old drew an arrow in the inside of her ring finger the other day. Questioning her only results in heavy sighs and eye rolls, lol.

Your buddy's point is valid. You can't shock your parents with tattoos or piercings anymore, and kids today aren't angry at their parents anymore, so that's the reason (my theory, anyway) modern "rock" sounds like folk music today.

Ha... I'm OK with the nerd part of the equation.... My daughter has already gone from bopping along to shit I listen to in the car to torturing the household with auto-tuned pop SHIT and every American Idol episode on the DVR...

I still buy her 1 punk rock/metal t-shirt every year for X-Mas... last year was MOTORHEAD!!!

[Suiren]

My 13 year old daughter draws all over her hands these days.... I facetiously asked if she was figuring out the designs she was going to eventually get tattooed.

All I get is eye rolls and "shut up DAAAADDD!

My buddy brought up a good point about alternative lifestyles and kids:

"if you raise your kids on punk rock/tattoos and a non-mainstream lifestyle, how will they rebel when the time comes? Will they become nerds, go to church and listen to Coldplay???"

Good question. Kids don't always rebel though..my sister turned out like an exact copy of my parents whereas I became the opposite. Am not much of a rebel though, I just quietly changed. Really makes me wonder how my son will change. I have to admit I secretly hope he will be like me ;)

I started introducing my music when he was in the womb in the hopes of him liking it "here baby, some blackmetal, enjoy".