I posted about tattoos a little while ago after a conversation I had on my Facebook page on tattoos gave me the inspiration for the post. From that post, it made me think more about the taboo still held about tattoos and the general image we have about those who have them. I reached out to the Twitter community and asked for mums who have tattoos to share some of their stories with us. Quite a few people have done just that and others are still waiting for a helping hand to get the photos taken so they can share their stories!

I’m going to post some of the parent’s stories and the pics of their tattoos throughout the coming weeks. If you want to share your story, drop me an email (admin@circusmums.com) and I’d be happy to add you! First up it’s the fabulous Paula with some cheeky lil’ critters!

 Paula from Cad E An Sceal

I have three tattoos. My first was Daffy Duck on the right calf at the side.  I’d been wanting to have a tattoo from years.  My mum, when I was younger, used to say that people who get tattoos when they are young will regret it.  So I got my first when I was 30.
My second I got a year later, although I could have gone straight back because I loved the whole experience.

My second was Bugs Bunny on the side of my left calf.  When I got my second one, there were a gang of us.  All my sisters had come over to celebrate my birthday and we all got tattoos then went for a liquid lunch!  My third, and last (so far..) is Tweety Pie on my left shoulder.

I don’t know why the Warner Bros characters, but I certainly don’t regret it.  They are all in places I can keep covered when I need to, which is the way I would have to have it. I intend to have maybe one or two more, but I need someone to come with me to hold my hand!

Leanne from My Little Life of Scrap

I got my first tattoo when I was 17 ( i know) I went with my parents. Me and my mum got our first tattoo done together.Now I know this might sound bit weird, but well my dad has 27. Tattoos in our house were never a ‘bad’ thing. It was always just something that we had. It was not discouraged.
After getting my first (a Japanese symbol for women on my ankle – and granted the actual design might not mean much to me, but what it does mean to me is the memory with my mum. In the tattooist studio, both a little nervous.) I caught the bug. I got a Tinkerbell on my shoulder, a shooting star on my lower back and rather large butterfly in the centre of my back.Then that was it for a while. No more tattoos…until I had Maxwell.
I wanted something to commemorate my boy in my life. Though I decided against the usual name, dob etc. I went for 3 stars on my forearm (I love stars!). 3 stars, 1 for me, 1 for my husband and 1 for my son. I have complete intentions of adding to these stars as we add more to our family.
My husband has only recently caught the bug (as said in my family it is the norm – my younger sister has 17, but in his not so much. None of his immediate family have a tattoo!) and he got a lion tattoo on his arm in honour of our family. We had talked and talked about new tattoo and upon one of our conversations we stumbled on an idea we both loved. We got married last year and our first dance was to ‘Chaka Khan’ ‘Ain’t Nobody’ ( a little bit of a strange song choice i know). We both knew we wanted to tattoo to represent each other (but again not just name, date) We picked a line from the song – and he got half and I got the other half. I love the simplicity of it. The way it looks and what it means to us.
I have no problem with tattoos. I do have a problem with people making judgements on them. I think you should trust the person to make the decision. Like i said my first tattoo has not great meaning in terms of the design but it means a lot too me in terms of the part of my life I got it done.
Some tattoos are beautiful works of art and I am amazed at them. Myself I would not want to be covered in them – and all my tattoos can be covered at some point if needed with clothing. But right now I love them.
And I am not saying I want my son when he grows up to be covered in head to toe with them. But I will hope that if he decides to get one we can encourage him to find something he loves, that he feels ‘moved’ to have or it feels ‘right’ for him in the moment. K only recently got into tattoos when he saw one he fell in love with, and that was it.
Its sad that still people can make judgements on tattoos (but that’s life I guess and people might make judgements on the amount of diet coke I drink or I give a bottle of tea to my son!)
I am happy to be inked – its parts of my life told in story on my body. The stages I was at.
My first – just starting college
My second – a Christmas present and enjoying college life
My Third – a eighteenth birthday present
My fourth – something I coloured in on paper and was copied onto my back
My fifth – the birth of my child
My sixth – marriage to the man I love.
Join me again soon for more of us inked mums – including myself, sharing our stories xxx Tin
July 2, 2012
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