Many people, unfortunately, believe that having tattoos makes you a bad parent. The stigma surrounding the choice to permanently ink your body, while slowly disappearing, hasn't completely been eradicated from society, so inked mothers are forced to live with judgement, shame, and the fictitious assumptions forced upon them by relative (not to mention, nosy) strangers.
Little do those strangers know, however, that having tattoos provides you with multiple lessons that actually make you a better parent. From teaching your kid to love and respect their body, to learning how to weather that next toddler tantrum because, hey, you can handle a needle going into your skin a thousand times; a tattooed mother is a prepared, capable, ready-for-anything mother. There's nothing a newborn baby or a defiant kid can throw at an inked mom that she hasn't been prepped for, thanks to a tattoo artist, a few hours of tattooing, and a little (or sometimes, a lot) of pain.
So enough with the judgement. Having a tattoo doesn't mean what it used to mean 50 years ago. Now, having a tattoo means that you can handle motherhood, and the scrutiny that (sadly) comes along with it. Having a tattoo means that you're a great mom, who has learned valuable lessons in a tattoo shop that will make you a better parent to your kid. Don't believe me? Well, here are 9 things having a tattoo teachings you about parenthood. Because it isn't just the ink that stays with you, forever.