An incredibly disappointing and uncomfortable experience…read more
From the moment we arrived for my 1.5-year-old daughter's ear-piercing appointment, I had a feeling it was not going to go well.
We arrived 10 minutes early, as instructed, and waited outside while the employee was visibly inside but had not yet opened the door. Her name is Samm. Rather than acknowledging us, Samm looked out and glared at me. When the door finally opened and I walked in for our 10am appointment, there was no greeting, no "good morning," and certainly no attempt to make a mother bringing in a very young child feel welcome. Samm simply looked at me, looked back down at her computer, and said, "Are you the 10 AM?"
Unfortunately, that set the tone for the entire appointment.
I asked whether tandem piercing was an option and was told that her coworkers had called out and that it was "going to be a long day" for her. Samm then asked my daughter's age, and when I told her she was 1.5, she proceeded to explain why this is one of the most difficult ages to pierce.
I understand completely that toddlers move. What I did not understand was why the person entrusted with piercing a toddler seemed intent on repeatedly emphasizing how difficult and undesirable the appointment was going to be. The overwhelming impression was that she was unhappy to be at work that day and did not want to perform this piercing.
Once she began cleaning and marking my daughter's ears, my daughter became upset. She is generally a very even-tempered, easygoing child, and of course I expected some tears during an ear piercing. What I did not expect was an environment that felt tense and uncomfortable before a piercing had even occurred. There was no sense of warmth, confidence, efficiency, or experience in working with a nervous toddler.
The preparation also felt unnecessarily drawn out. We were doing everything we could to keep my daughter calm and distracted, and I was repeatedly able to settle her, but instead of moving efficiently during those windows, the process continued to drag on while we heard more commentary about why this age is difficult.
Eventually, when it came time to restrain her for the piercing, my daughter continued pulling away. At that point I stopped the appointment. I said that we should reschedule because the process was becoming traumatic and that I did not feel things were moving quickly enough to make this successful.
I then specifically asked whether there was someone else who was more comfortable piercing young children or whether we could schedule a tandem appointment. Samm informed me that she is was "the most senior nurse here".
If that is the case, I am genuinely appalled by Rowan's standard for staffing these appointments.
I chose Rowan specifically because its entire model is marketed around ear piercing performed by nurses in a safe, professional, child-friendly environment. For a company built around that premise, I expected someone who was confident and experienced with young children, understood that efficiency matters when working with a toddler, and--at an absolute minimum--could provide basic warmth and professionalism.
Instead, we left without my daughter's ears pierced after an unnecessarily stressful experience with someone who appeared uncomfortable performing the service in the first place.
I am extremely glad I trusted my instincts and stopped the appointment rather than forcing my daughter through an experience that did not feel right. I would not return to this location, and I would strongly caution other parents considering bringing a toddler here.
