Tattooing Our Kids
As a tattoo artist, I had a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea of North Dakota’s tattoo law that says young adults 16 and over can get tattooed with their parent’s permission. I declined dozens of 16-year-olds who came to me to be tattooed for several reasons, one being that the generic designs they had in hand off of Pinterest had no meaning to them.
Experienced as a parent and an artist, I believed it would be a regrettable tattoo, if not for them, for me as the artist who would be bound to their experience for life. Mind you, their parents had shared that same concern with their child but ultimately caved to the demands of their impulsive kiddo, yet hoping an experienced artist could put in their two cents. However, tattoos are forever, and I don't want to be part of someone's tattoo regret.
Although tattoos can be seen by many as a therapeutic process, I adhere to a set of ethics that allow me to sleep at night. After talking with potential clients, if I feel the tattoo will be a possible source of regret or misery later, I won't do it.
While others might scoff at the idea of tattoos and therapy being combined in the same sentence, I have found there has been an alternative use that has been proven to be therapeutic, and that is in attachment therapy.
Attachment therapy is a therapeutic intervention designed to strengthen individuals' emotional bonds and connections, mainly focusing on parent-child relationships.
The primary goal is to enhance attachment patterns and improve the overall well-being of individuals, often children or adolescents, who may be experiencing difficulties in forming secure and healthy attachments.
This type of therapy is rooted in attachment theory, which suggests that early relationships and attachments affect an individual's emotional and social development.
Attachment therapy may be employed in various contexts, including adoptive or foster families, children with a history of trauma or neglect, or individuals struggling with attachment-related issues.
In our post-adoption journey, we sought guidance from licensed practitioners to ensure that the therapy aligned with evidence-based practices and met with an experienced mental health professional to add to our parenting toolbox.
One such activity was using our fingers to draw on their back, like playing a game of Pictionary and having our child try to guess the weather. We would then trade-off, and they would draw on my back.
The problem was this:
How many seasons or weather conditions can you come up with?
Sunny, rainy, snowing, blizzard, windy. Let me know if you can think of more because we were done after only a few minutes. I suggested writing letters, words, and animals to expand on this activity, which would give us more time to do the activity while the therapist observed, but it was still short-lived.
We like to approach activities with our child's comfort level and preferences in mind, so after our second session, I asked our children what they thought of the exercises and how they felt about doing them.
The answer was unanimous, and the kids said it was “juvenile.”
Fair enough. Thinking about it, I went back to my old tried and valid question:
What do you know how to do, and how can it be applied to our mission? The answer came quickly.
I know KIDS, and I understand art, So why not TATTOOS?
Temporary tattoos wouldn’t achieve this particular goal. Water, a sponge, and a little pressure, and 30 seconds later, we’d be done, so I decided to DRAW on my kiddos.
In the tattoo world, I’ve sketched out designs using a surgical pen or a Sharpie marker because Sharpies or markers are safe on the skill if you don’t have open sores. However, Sharpies and markers contain toxins harmful to the skin and body, and they have numerous chemicals that may be toxic when absorbed through the skin in large amounts- so that was out.
After a quick search and checking reviews, I opted for these Temporary Tattoo Markers.
