I'm one of "those" moms. My daughter is 13. She wants a second hole in each earlobe so badly. I will give her credit that she has backed off of the cartilage piercing in her upper ear, though. I have told her that when she is 18, and on her own, with her own money, she will have the right to do whatever she wants with her body (and I'm sure I won't like a lot of it), but right now, I want her to be satisfied with what she has (one hole in each earlobe). My daughter has long, straight, brown hair, and as a reward for good grades (straight A's), a couple of years ago, I allowed her to have highlights put in around her face. It was lovely, and not overdone. Since then, she has had it done again a couple of times (also as a reward for good grades).

There are so many things that you can do to change your look, without a permanent change (like piercings, tatoos, hair color), and in time, Maria, you'll be able to make all those decisions for yourself. In the meantime, spoken like a true mother, I would say to respect your mother's views and do those things like were suggested, by maybe changing your hairstyle, even the types of earrings you wear, or clothing that you wear. You'd be amazed at how your mom would probably love to work on that type of thing with you! I certainly do.

Good luck, and hang in there.

Logan