Mum-of-6 wears same pair of earrings for 12 years for 6 relatable reasons

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When a US mum of six revealed she had indeed left her earrings in for more than a decade due to the parenting struggle being so gosh-darned real, other parents cheered in solidarity.

Twelve year itch

Radio presenter and author Jennifer Fulwiler is the mum at the centre of this relatable story and she took to Instagram to let other women know that if some tasks are taking a while to find their way to the top of your to-do list, they’re most certainly not alone in their struggle.

Jennifer said that while her story might seem unfathomable to some, there’s six very good reasons why her earrings remained in place for 12 long years. And those reasons are her kids. Not only are there a whole bunch of them, she’s balancing a broadcasting and writing career with raising them. We’re surprised she didn’t forget to take her shoes off for 12 years, truth be told. She’s got a LOT on.

“I am not always great about checking things off of my to-do list, so it took me a little while to deal with this situation. By “a little while” I mean 12 years,” Jen admitted and we wanted to hug her and thank her all at once.

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This is a huge day. HUGE. Why? Because I am wearing new earrings. You see, I was given diamond studs as a special gift, but they kept falling out because the backs would come loose. I was determined to fix the situation, and boy did I: I went out and found earring backs that I'm pretty sure were made for astronauts undergoing maximum g-force experiments. The only problem was that the backs would not come off. At all. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I am not always great about checking things off of my to-do list, so it took me a little while to deal with this situation. By "a little while" I mean 12 years. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Those diamonds studs were stuck in my ears for over a decade. My children have never seen me with any other earrings. Most of my friends have never known me to wear any other accessories in my ears. (There is a link in my profile to the story of the startling moment when @hallielord discovered this bizarre fact about her friend if you need some amusement.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But on Monday, I finally bought some small wire cutters and dealt with the situation. I cut the posts off, only barely managing not to take off part of my ear lobe in the process, and dropped the studs at a jewelry repair shop. Then I promptly went and bought my first new pair of earrings in over a decade. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The moral of the story is: 1) No matter how crazy you think you are, at least you didn't have earrings stuck in your ears for 12 years. 2) If you have things on your to-do list that have been sitting there forever and you never quite seem to get to it, don't give up hope! One of these days you might actually get to it

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Fixed it!

Jen explains that when she first received the earrings as a gift, they kept falling off. She found a very secure – and actually almost permanent – solution and the rest is history.

“I was given diamond studs as a special gift, but they kept falling out because the backs would come loose. I was determined to fix the situation, and boy did I.” 

“I went out and found earring backs that I’m pretty sure were made for astronauts undergoing maximum g-force experiments. The only problem was that the backs would not come off. At all,” Jen said.

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I've been nervously awaiting the moment I could finally send this out, and here it is: I can finally share the cover of my next book with you! ⭐️ It's a humorous memoir about my struggle to follow my personal passions in the midst of having six babies in eight years. ⭐️ I told my publisher that I wanted something that conveyed both whimsey and humor, failure and hope. I wanted people to see the cover and get that this is a story by someone who shares a lot of really embarrassing moments but also takes a serious look at at real issues in the process. ⭐️ I had begun to think that I'd asked for the impossible, and then they sent me this final option. Now I'm even more excited to share this story with you! ⭐️ Please say a prayer for me as I work though final revisions on the manuscript! ⭐️ [Using the star emoji in place of paragraph breaks because I cannot even deal with figuring out the dark art of Instagram line breaks right now.]

A post shared by Jen Fulwiler (@jenniferfulwiler) on

Mum life

Jen made a loose note to self to deal with the stuck stud sitch, but 12 years later they remained firmly attached to her lobes. She’d had a busy decade, to be clear, and maybe she couldn’t read her own writing because that has actually happened to us before.

Eventually, the constant sparkle got to be too much and Jen inexplicably sprung into action. Perhaps she had a 15 minute window pop up in her schedule for the first time in 12 years. Perhaps she was trying to show us all up with her “getting sh*t done” approach. It’s hard to know.

“I finally bought some small wire cutters and dealt with the situation,” Jen explained. “I cut the posts off, only barely managing not to take off part of my ear lobe in the process, and dropped the studs at a jewellery repair shop. Then I promptly went and bought my first new pair of earrings in over a decade.”

Jennifer sheepishly admitted her kids had never, ever seen her with other earrings on, and in fact most of her friends know her as Jenny With The Diamond Studs, too.

Her husband had apparently come at her with some huge wire cutters a few times over the years, but this seemed ill-advised and she’d batted him away. (We’ve all been there!) Jenny was content to keep dabbing her lobes with hydrogen peroxide a couple of times a week, and knew she’d get to it eventually.

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I've never done a #fridayintroductions post so I thought I'd get in on the action this week! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️ My husband and I are both only children and we have six kids. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️ We homeschool. Yesterday one of my kids revealed that she thought Austria and Australia were the same place, so that's going well. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️ I host a daily, two-hour live radio show on SiriusXM but when people ask me what I do I still say I'm a writer. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️ I guess this makes me a "working mom" but those kind of terms seem dated. The lines are now so blurry between "working mom" and "stay-at-home mom" and "work-at-home mom" that those labels and the debates that surround them are largely irrelevant. There are infinite ways to explore your passions and get the bills paid while still making your family your top priority. It's time to stop limiting ourselves with outdated labels. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️ If you ever see a flattering picture of me it took me AT LEAST 30 tries to get that shot.

A post shared by Jen Fulwiler (@jenniferfulwiler) on

Silver lining?

And she was right, as we now know. #wisdom

Jen’s not letting her long problem-solving lead time get her down though, preferring to see it as proof that good things come to those who wait. Eventually. After all the kid stuff is done and dusted. And they’ve all left home.

“The moral of the story is: 1) No matter how crazy you think you are, at least you didn’t have earrings stuck in your ears for 12 years. 2) If you have things on your to-do list that have been sitting there forever and you never quite seem to get to it, don’t give up hope! One of these days you might actually get to it,” Jen promised, reassuringly.

This story should prove bolstering to anyone who finds those back-burnered tasks can simmer away gently for much, much longer than we intend. You, my friend, are not alone.

(A big thanks to Jen for sharing her story, too!)

 

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