When I went to get my nose pierced a couple of months ago, I wasn't really thinking. Yeah, I had been thinking about doing it for a while, but I hadn't really been thinking about how my family members might react. I'm 32 years old, I don't need parental consent to get another hole in my nose. And the boyfriend? Well, he knew I was thinking about it and he was okay with it. But a few days after the deed was done, I wondered if any of my sets of parents would notice. Or if they'd care?

My mum once told me she was glad that I got my Dad's nose instead of hers (I also got pretty much everything else of dad's - the man has some strong genes). It occurred to me that she might think a piercing was ruining a perfectly good nose. I'm still a little concerned about what Dad will think, but we'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, we'll focus on Mum.

I had dinner with her twice, and she didn't say a word. The first time, she had noticed the new color in my hair, but nothing else. Granted, it's a small stud in my nose, and when my glasses slide down a bit, they actually hide it completely. The second time we had dinner, still nothing. So this past Tuesday, when we went out to dinner, I asked if she had noticed. "Oh, I thought something was different, but I couldn't really place it. I knew it wasn't your hair, but I wasn't sure what else it might be. Did it hurt?"

Did it hurt? I explained that no, it didn't hurt that bad. I was a little disappointed though, I thought I might at least get an "It suits you!" or "You pull it off really well!" or perhaps an "It looks so natural, I didn't even notice!" I consider my mom a pretty progressive gal, but perhaps her daughter getting her nose pierced was a little much. At least I like it, and that's what matters, right?

Though I think I'll hold of telling her that I'd kind of like to get a tattoo (at least I could hide it depending on where it is). On 1/4 of my arm (yeah, probably should keep my mouth shut on this one).