I’m A Mom With Tattoos – Claire Cramer

Welcome back to another installment in our new series – I’m A Mom With Tattoos.  In case you have missed the last couple, don’t forget to check them out here.

Today this message comes to you straight out of the Overberg where we were spoiled for a night away by our in laws.  I know right?!  How awesome are my in laws.   Anyway, while you are reading this we will be running after 3 children that are so very excited to see the ducks that they try and escape every 10 minutes, but it’s totally worth it because guess whose not cooking breakfast this morning!

Anyway, today I want you to meet my long time friend Claire – we go way back to college days and now get to share the joy of not only working in “sister companies” but both being parents to gorgeous little people.  Go and get some of your favourite poison and enjoy the read!

Your name:  Claire Cramer

Your age: 27 years old

Your Occupation:  Immigration Practitioner/Deputy Operations Manager

A Mom’s favourite thing to do is talk about their children – tell us about your family:  I am a fairly new mom with a gorgous 15 month old little girl and an amazing hubby, whom I have been in love with for 10 years and in love and married to for 3 years.

Our little girl has been a tremendous blessing to us, firstly as we were told I would struggle to fall pregnant, but she came into being within 2 weeks of us trying and, as with my mother and grandmother, I became pre-eclamptic at 33 weeks and she was born at 33 weeks and two days at a tiny 2kgs. She has grown and continues to grow beautifully and with such a gorgeous personality.

If you work, tell us a bit more about your working environment – are you regularly in contact with new “clients/public”.   I work for an Immigration company, who assists foreigners with their immigration needs.

I deal with many big corporate companies as my clients and attend meetings on a regular basis with the companies HR departments, CEO’s and candidates.

Tell us a bit about your tattoos, what they are, why you have them, where they are located: I currently have four tattoos and cant wait to get more. My tattoos are all meaningful to me and have significance as to where I  have been and where I am today.

My first tattoo, was a fairy silhouette on my shoulder.  I had my first tat done when I was 20 years old. Fairies and fantasy characters have always intrigued me and my mom loves fairies and constantly showed us that our  imaginations are powerful. My mom has been my rock and my best friend, we have an amazing relationship and I have so much respect for her and how she raised my brother and I.

My second tattoo is a black rose, I had this tattoo done while my husband and I broke up for 10 months, this tattoo on my spine reminds me there is always positives and negatives, that something special and beautiful can grow from the darkness.

My third is on my ankle, which is a treble cleff as music makes me feel deeply and expresses my emotions and feelings as well as our wedding date – 07.05.2011. Our wedding was incredibly special and will always be one of my favourite days.

My fourth and most recent tattoo is on my inner wrist, so that I will always have her in my eye sight and on my heart- this is of my little girl’s first name -Alyssa and her birth date 14.12.2012. I love her with every fibre of my being and had this tattoo done on her 1st birthday.

How old were you when you got your first tattoo: 20

Do you plan on getting more?Yes, I wil definitley have at least one more – when our next little one comes along, his/ her name and date of birth will be tattooed on my other inner wrist.

What is the general reaction that “the Public” have towards your tattoos?  Have you run into any negativity or adversity because of them?  For the most part, I havnt received many negative responses, or I just havnt been receptive to it. My immediate family always take a step back briefly and say “not another one” or “why do you need to keep doing that to yourself” but they are quick to move on.

Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed? My advice is – do think about what you want before you go ahead and look around for the best tattoo parlour. Ask necessary questions, because something that will be apart of you forever, you need to have as much knowledge as possible.

Also, if you are a Mom with tattoos and would like to get in on the action here and share your story, mail/tweet me and I’ll send you everything you have to know.