On being a tattooed mom

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It is summer. I wear a skirt, dress or short pants and my son looks at my leg or my arm or or or…. And what does he see? When I was 13 years old and you would have shown me a picture of myself I would not have believed that this woman could be me.

My parents were and are pretty open-minded but at the same time conservative and never even thought about tattoos. I do not think my parents have any friends who are tattooed as a matter of fact. There were no tattoos throughout my  high school years – on myself or friends. As a matter of fact I have not seen a person heavily tattooed before I was 18 years old. Weird, but this is true. Then out of a sudden I saw tattoos everywhere and all I thought was how people could do this to their bodies and all these diseases from unsanitary conditions they might catch.

My past profession initially prohibited tattoos completely but then allowed to be tattooed at invisible places. I changed. People change. I like body art. I love tattoos. So as soon as my former employer said it is okay to get tattoos (and even visible tattoos) I was hooked. I would call myself heavily tattooed at this point. I have not gotten anything else lately and I have not planned anything for the future but who knows what might happens.

I would just link being tattooed (or heavily tattoos)  to wearing a dress that you just cannot take off. I have to also mention that I did a lot of research on the “dress” before. I knew what I exactly wanted, then loved the “dress”, bought the dress and now I wear it for the rest of my life. 😀 My tattoos are visible but I can hide them if I want to easily. However, people on the street do comment on them – of course not openly. Maybe they hate it, maybe they do not but just because something is different, more colorful and out of the norm they have this urge to discuss it; in a positive or negative way. Well whatever makes them happy. The thing is that I cannot take my “dress” off – ever! I just have to keep this in mind when I get visibly tattooed or any tattoo. It will usually be a conversation piece and will always be a part of me wherever I go. This is what people see before they see me! I have never regretted any tattoo on my body so far. This is me.

So now I am a Mom with tattoos.  People act even more weird and ask more questions. What will you do if your son wants tattoos because he sees yours? How often do other Moms judge you? Do you think your son will be embarrassed of your tattoos later on?” Well my son is surrounded by us being tattooed. Yes, my husband loves his tattoos as well. 🙂 When my son grows up he might think we are lame for being tattoos or super cool. But who really cares. It is all good, either way. I on the other hand could not have imagined my mom or dad being tattooed. This just was not the time really. Having a tattooed mom and dad is all my son will know and he is surrounded by some of my tattooed friends as well occasionally. So seeing pictures and beautiful colors on people’s skin is totally normal for him at his young age.  I love how he looks at my un-tattooed leg and my tattooed leg and puts his little finger on the tattoo figuring out the outlines.

Sometimes I do wonder how it all will affect our son. If at all I hope our tattoos teach him a valuable lesson – to just accept anybody no matter how they look and never base the opinion on someone’s look alone. I think this is a very important lesson for him to learn and considering how quickly other people are to judge others solely on appearances and stereotypes.  In my previous jobs I used to cover my tattoos up (in uniform or a suit usually) and most of my colleagues did not know that I am tattooed unless they saw me somewhere outside of work. I am still the same person they had always known; just because I am a bit different. 🙂 And being different is awesome. This is what I hope for my son. I just hope that he grows up and realizes that not everyone fits into one box. I want to teach my little guy that thinking outside of the norm, acceptance and tolerance, uniqueness and respect for diversity are all good things. Also kindness and compassion. If you look around tattoos become more common. When I walk around in this little town Coburg I call home for now I see so many people walking around with tattoos. I also realize that there will always be someone who makes an assumption or judge based on appearance which is sad but okay. All I do is teach my son to have a kind heart and open mind. This is what I tell people when they ask how it is like to be a heavily tattooed Mom. Simple as that.



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