How do parents who are tattooed and pierced deal with their children? (pls read additional detail)?

They really don't impact parenting at all. I got all mine done after I was 20 and while my husband had one done at 16, he can use that as an excuse not to let them get one before they're 18 because he had a growth spurt that really distorted it and he doesn't like it anymore ( a "please learn from my mistake" type of thing). My kids like our tattoos and love looking at them. With piercings the first few years you're going to have to be careful with the kids, mine kept messing with my industrial piercing and would tug on it if I wasn't vigilant. I don't know if they'll be embarrassed by them when they get older but by that point I'm sure anything we do will embarrass them just because it's the phase they'll be in.

I have tattoos and piercings...nothing crazy, but they are there. Aside from my ear lobes, all of mine were done after I turned 18. I see no reason why it should be an issue with my kids, because they will know they are welcome to do whatever they want in that way after they turn 18...just like I did. At that point they are an adult, and there's no need to feel guilty or hypocritical about it because I had to wait, too.

It doesn't really. If you are going to ban piercings and tattoos then you will be a hypocrite but as they cannot get tattoos until they are 18 anyway that does not really matter. It is far more likely that they will always see tattoos and piercings as an embarrassing 'dad thing' and never ever have them!

Nobody lets 18 year olds make life decisions for them. How about when you are 24, you let your 24 year old self decide what is best for you at 24, and when you are 30, you let the 30 year old you make decisions about what is best for your 30 year old life. I don't seek advice about decisions from 18 year old young adults at 43. There is no reason for your 18 year old self to decide that you will be highly inflexible for the rest of your life, and that your present decisions have to be really good ones that take all stages of life into account because you are stuck with them forever. Enjoy being 18, and make decisions about life with the thought that these decisions will be temporary decisions, and that you will be fully capable of making different decisions at older ages that fit with what your life is at that point. If that discourages some more permanent decision making at 18, such as tattoos that will be with your forever absent a painful procedure to remove them, then that would be great! Pierce away - holes will close up without further damage. But be careful about tattoos and surgically implanted freakazoid piercings coming out of your forehead and seeing daylight through your earlobe. Inducing the urge to vomit in others make you less employable - and your inability to be properly employed WILL be something that your future children will have a hard time dealing with. As with all youthful advice, I reject your counsel. LOL, you didn't even read what I wrote if you think I ranted about youth. I did quite the opposite. So I advise - brush up on reading comprehension, young man. Forehead implants and huge circular implanted thingies in your ear do make people want to vomit. Sorry that pointing out the obvious is troubling to you. I'll buy milk at a convenience store from someone so pierced, but probably not my car. And to answer your question - your kids will not care that you are tattooed or pierced. They will find SOMETHING to be embarrassed about when they reach their teens no matter what you do. To clarify - they will neither be intrigued or put off by them - they will be a normal part of their world - in other words - they won't care. I am not qualified to answer the other because I do not have piercing or tattoos. I have no idea what you "detailed' in your question regarding your piercings. I am not fluent in piercing lingo and am not interested in brushing up to find out. I have a feeling that the whole "stretched ear" is the vomit inducing kind, but I have no idea.

i dont think tattoos or piercings can effect anyones parenting skills, the way you look is irrelvent. as long as you can provide for your children and give them a good life thats all that matters. your children will grow up knowing they are what make you special and different from other parents, as long as it doesnt become an issue in their life or they are expected to do the same when theyre old enough it really doesnt matter.

it depends on how you present it. i think it has a different effect if its the father than if its the mother...when they are older, i would tell them how the tattoos are personal to you. that might help.

I have my navel and nose pierced and my kids don't even notice, I'm just mom. I don't have any tattoos but I imagine it would be the same. Having them doesn't impact your parenting skills, you make the choice to be a good parent or not, however, that being said most people I know with tattoos and/or facial piercings (beyond a simple nose stud) aren't great parents. But again, 1 doesn't always mean the other. My dad and older sister had a tattoo and I never really wanted one. I guess it depends on the kid. If my children wanted a piercing before they were 18 (needing my permission) I'd probably let them if they were keeping their grades up and were overall good kids. If they weren't then they have to wait until they are 18. If there is something someone should have control over it's their own body. **Tattoos when they are 18 if they want.

My mum is covered from head to toe in tattoos, and has lots of piercings on her face, she had to remove afew though for an operation. She also has pink dreadlocks, and all of this was a gradual thing as I grew up. I'm the oldest of 5, and none of us have really felt the need for piercings (well, my sister has her tongue done, I once had my lip and eyebrow) Anyways, my mam has always said if we want a piercing or dreadlocks then we can if we could get the school to agree, though we had to wait for tattoos. To be honest, I think children feel they are rebelling when they want something like a piercing, cuz as we've all had the offer open we haven't felt the need to take it xD edit - more Personal experience than advice - whoops

Depends on the child really. My mum doesn't have any piercings, not even her ears. I have 6 piercings. We both do have 2 tattoos though. My 2.5 year old hasn't shown any interest in getting piercings or tattoos (obviously), but she does like looking at mine. If she one day wants some as well, I have already figured out my rules for that. Any piercing/tattoo she gets will be payed for with her money, not mine. She must fully understand that piercings will leave scars. And she has to have a finished tattoo design and look at it every day for a year without making a single change before I will let her get it. Those are the rules I was given when I became interested in tattoos and piercings and they've worked out well for me. I've had my piercings for a minimum of 4 years and my tattoos for a minimum of 2 years and I still love every one of them.