Consultancy works!

A recent example of me being a consultant rather than a manager:

Eldest daughter says she wants her tongue pierced.

I ask her why. The only thing she could come up with is because all her friends are getting it done. I remind her that there should always be another good reason to do something besides the fact that everyone else is doing it.

I tell her I don't want her to, explaining that it can damage the teeth, problems (inflamation, infection, etc.) are common afterwards, serious problems are not rare ...

(What I wanted to say was: NO WAY! You are absolutely NOT under any circumstances getting your tongue pierced!!! And especially not it it's just because everyone else is doing it!)

She says she is going to get it done anyway.

I say I won't go with her. Or give my permission or condone it in any way. She tells me she'll go to someone who will do it regardless, and if it all goes wrong it will be my fault. (Haha! Aren't kids clever?) I tell her that will be fine, if she makes that choice she will have to live with the consequences, and it won't really make her tongue feel better to blame it all on me.

Thinking ...

She asks me if I'm going to stop her doing it. (As if I have any choice!)

I say no, but ask her to mull it over for a while before she rushes out and does something she might regret.

At the moment, it's forgotten. I think a friend's bad experience a few days later, with a badly swollen tongue (and removal of piercing in the end anyway) might have had something to do with it!