To not understand why parents hate their kids getting tattoos

[lailamaria]

Obviously this applies to adult children but it's something i've come across a lot and never really understood it, is it because parents feel some sort of ownership over their kids bodies or is it something different.

This isn't a brag or anything but my mum's never been bothered, she has 2 tattoos herself with extremely sentimental meaning (although i think people should get tattoos whether their sentimental or not) and for my sister's 18th she even paid for her to get one as her birthday present.

I understand not liking tattoos on yourself but demanding your adult children don't get them or even talk them out of getting them I think is rather rude when their paying for them themselves with their own money. My aunt used to ask my cousin to cover hers up just because she hated it (it was a flower on her back so it wasn't like the tattoo was offensive.)

I'm not trying to judge truly I personally just find it strange

Exactly this .

They don't look good. For me, bare skin is more attractive. So l'd be a bit disappointed for that reason.

But, you can't tell another adult human what to do - you just have to let them get on with it.

Exactly! They were hard work to make and they turned out really well. I don’t want them to install holes or ink - they are perfect as they are.

Because they are hideous and permanent.

I'm 60 and have tattoos as I was a biker for years and into the biking world.
My mother has disowned me, my view is there can't be much love there if your daughter is less important than a bit of ink.
I'd love my child no matter what they did to their body.

Yeah I wouldn’t actually disown my dds if they had them that’s rather extreme! I would say it’s a bad choice though and try and encourage temporary ones.

Just as parents we’ve seen craze after craze come and go with our teens so doing something so permanent to yourself when young isn’t that smart.

I'm hopeful that because every second person under 30 has a giant sleeve tattoo now, it will be very unfashionable & dated by the time my beautiful perfect children are adults.

As others have said, it is their body their choice & no way would I disown them! But I know I'm glad I changed my mind about the Celtic knot I was going to have etched into my lower back at 18.

Tattoos are ugly, boring and unoriginal , it seems like every other person has lots these days and feels the urge to constantly show them off.
They are very dated looking now, time has moved on, so l doubt my sons would choose to have one.

My DS had a matching one done with his then girlfriend. He massively regrets it.

MrsTerryPratchett I love the comparison with pebble dashing .

It's hard to articulate why some of us just don't like tattoos without coming across as a judge snobby twat, but yes, I would be disappointed if my DS got a tattoo.

I hate them, sorry think they are really common. Judgey I know but dont care. I would be so upset if my kids got one and yes I would try to talk them out of it.

Because we know there is a good chance they will regret it. I was one of the numpties who got a tattoo on my 18th birthday just because I could (of course I was insistent at the time I really wanted it). I hate it.

I also have family members who are heavily tattooed and if they could get rid of them easily, they would do it in a heartbeat.

Because they are truly awful and permanent. If you’ve seen an older person with them and know how they came to regret them then you’d ‘encourage’ your DC not to have any.
In my case that encouragement consisted of making it clear that if he spent money on a tattoo he could sing goodbye to any money for university from us. DH agrees. We explained why we don’t like them and to be honest I think he only mildly flirted with the idea. If we got him past the stage when he might have gone out and got one or more then I’m glad that I took that view. If he has actually got one then it must be on his rear as I’ve seen everywhere else. Other people of his age that we know have them very visibly on arms stretching onto to wrists and they aren’t covered by sleeves.

A tattoo on a young fit body is very different to an old wrinkly one.

My DH had one when he was 16 and as he got older he was embarrassed about it. He paid for a cover up years later and had to go quite a bit bigger. I know they are fashionable atm but things change and they are not easy to get rid of.

Oh, and people do still judge on them.

I was at a dressy event last weekend lots of pretty dresses. However the Pretty summer dress / tattoo combo just looks bloody awful on anyone.

One of my DC is considering getting one , I am not keen on them generally, I see the odd one that is very well done, and these have tended to be on older people who have chosen to get one later on in life.
I shudder to think of the things I would have got done at 19 if I had wanted a tatoo, they certainly wouldn't have been anything I would have loved now.

Unless they’re done by someone very talented they quickly look shit. Certain styles become dated - think back to tribal arm tattoos of the late 90s-early 00s. Also to us parents our kids are perfect as they are and the thought of them doing something to change that is a bit weird.

I don't understand the hate for tattoos at all. To me they are an expression of a persons identity much like hairstyle, clothing, piercings etc.
I'm glad we are moving away (all be it to slowly) from a world where it's ok to judge someone on the way they look

My friends who have them say they are addictive and neither of them have known when to stop. So one or two are fine imo but when you see a whole arm or back covered l just think it is too much.
But if my dd went down that route, l wouldn't lose any sleep over it

Love the pebbledash comment 😂

I think they look terrible and they are really hard to get off so I'd prefer them not to get them.

As tattoos are common.

I personally dislike tattoos. I think they look cheap, so I would be upset if my kids got them. But I would probably not vocalise this to them…they know my feelings on them anyway.

I don’t know of anyone my age who doesn’t regret theirs! I was at university with a girl who had a very pretty Celtic band done around her belly button. It looked lovely when she was 19 and used to wear little tops and skirts to show it off.

She is now 52-has 3 children and is a bit overweight. She hates it-says it looks absolutely awful and stretched and would put her off wearing any sort of bikini.

I think with teenagers, you kind of know that whatever they choose, it is highly likely they will regret it in a few years. As they get older, their decisions will hopefully be slightly wiser