Jillian Michaels gets our badass mom of the week award for letting her 4-year-old son do something lots of moms just wouldn’t get on board with.
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The fitness trainer and TV personality shared a sweet pic on Instagram revealing that little Phoenix had his ears pierced, and he looks absolutely delighted about it.
Michaels’ reason for letting him get his ears pierced? His big sister Lukensia, 6, got hers done, and he wanted the same. And his moms (Michaels and fiancée Heidi Rhoades) weren’t willing to say, “that’s for girls.”
Michaels also revealed that her brother and Phoenix’s karate teacher have their ears pierced, so in his eyes, “it’s something the cool guys do.” All kids want to be like their cool aunt or uncle, right?
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Of course, some parents think 4 years old is too young to have pierced ears, but that’s another matter. What’s important is that gender shouldn’t dictate any aspect of a child’s self-expression: the colors they wear, the toys they play with, the length of their hair.
The response to Michaels’ post has been overwhelmingly positive, with many parents echoing her view that our kids shouldn’t have to conform to any particular gender roles. One commenter wrote that it was “wrong” because “he is a young boy,” but was quickly shut down by a whole lot of more open-minded voices.
If you don’t know that a 4-year-old knows exactly what they want, well, you’re clearly not the parent of a 4-year-old. This wasn’t Michaels’ decision, it was her son’s — and she respects him enough to provide encouragement and let him dictate how his character will grow. And as she quite rightly points out, if he grows to dislike his pierced ears when he’s older, all he has to do is let them close over.
We’re totally hoping he starts a trend.
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