I Let My Seven-Year-Old Tattoo Me And It Was Awesome

Yes, with a tattoo gun. Yes, on my skin.

Hi, I'm Morgan, and this is my seven-year-old daughter Delilah. And for Mother's Day this year, I took her to a tattoo parlor to have her design something original for me!

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We ventured to The Warren Tattoo on Sunset Blvd for my fresk ink, and we couldn't have picked a better place. Owner and artist Zoey Taylor is a huge Bunny fan (thus, the name of her shop) and so is Dee!

Morgan Shanahan

I lucked out and Delilah opted to draw a tulip because (fun fact!) they keep growing even after they're cut.

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That's totally true! About tulips. Delilah decided to go with a tulip because it's my favorite flower, but I was very pleased that she remembered the factoid that makes me love them so much.

(Her second choice was to draw a picture of our dog, Samson, which would have been cute, but also not cute at all for me to live with.)

Initially, I had just planned to let Delilah hold my hand while the incredible Zoey Taylor interpreted D's artwork on my arm. But, the thing is, Zoey really knows how to create a tattoo that you'll treasure forever.

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That's not me, by the way.

So, as Dee drew, Zoey casually mentioned that she was insured to teach – and that Delilah could actually participate in the tattoo if she was interested. And y'know, if I was cool with having her actually tattoo me.

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I was. How could I not be? What a cool memory! ^^ This is the exact moment I realized it was about to become a hands-on experience for my little girl. I mean honestly, how freaking MOM of me that I had a sitting with one of the greatest tattoo artists in LA and I turned it into an art lesson for my daughter.

The artwork was finalized, and the outline was transferred.

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I still wasn't totally convinced that Dee would go for it. She tends to be kind of skittish about things, especially things involving needles. But she didn't blink.

Zoey lined the piece, and then had Delilah sit on her lap to help color it in!

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And *sigh* you should have seen Delilah's face. I could not take my eyes off of her (nope, not even to wince in pain.) There was so much care in her work, and I was in awe of her.

Zoey never took her hands off the machine, but definitely gave Delilah the control of where the needle went.

Morgan Shanahan

I may have created a monster. Dee asked to do more three times.

My first-grader tattooed me. You guys. Delilah tattooed me! Herself! I can't believe it! She's so proud.

Morgan Shanahan

And so am I. I've never loved a tattoo so much.

Looks like I don't have to be super worried about preserving her artwork at this age.

To see how it all went down, check out the video:

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