Former Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder has seen her fair share of criticism over the years and has become accustomed to clapping back at her naysayers. And it seems that she’s done it again.
This time, Stassi hit back after making a parenting decision for her daughter, Hartford. And the decision is one that many parents, including some of her former co-stars, have made.
She decided to have Hartford’s ears pierced.
Stassi took to social media to show off Hartford’s new bling and was met with a slew of critics who questioned why she would do that to her baby.
Stassi says the decision ‘traumatized’ her, but was the right decision for Hartford
Taking to the Instagram caption of her post, Stassi explained that she thought long and hard about the decision to have Hartford’s ears pierced.
“I GOT HER EARS PIERCED,” Stassi opened the caption. “And I waited a couple weeks to talk about it until I saw how she reacted and dealt with it, so I could accurately explain my feelings\thoughts on it.”
Stassi continued, “…moral of the story: It traumatized me, not her. But I’m still 100% happy with my decision.”
Followers criticize Stassi for piercing Hartford’s ears
Of course, it didn’t take long for the critics to show up in the comment section questioning why Stassi would do such a thing.
“Why? [Piercing] a baby’s ears is for the parent not the baby!” one follower wrote.
Another follower pointed out that doing it while she’s a baby is effectively taking away her choice.
“Sorry but it’s her body and should be her decision when she’s able to make it for herself. Earrings do not make babies more beautiful… she’s adorable just as she is,” they wrote.
However, not every comment was looking for an argument. One, in particular, went for a more diplomatic approach.
“Agree to disagree. That takes away her choice,” the comment began. The commenter continued to echo other sentiments that Stassi should have waited until Hartford was old enough to make the decision for herself.
However, Stassi disagreed and responded that she still felt she made the right decision on behalf of her daughter.
“I totally understand that. It’s an excellent point that I thought about a lot beforehand. Personally this was the best decision for me as a mom. I was so thankful my mom pierced my ears as a baby and I wanted to do the same for mine.”
When yet another critic insinuated that Stassi made the decision selfishly for herself and not for Hartford, Stassi clapped back and doubled down on her decision.
“If you listen to my podcast, you know that’s not the reason at all,” she responded. “I was so thankful my mom did it for me as a baby, so that I didn’t have to go through the fear of having it done as a kid. I wanted to do that for Hartford.”
Stassi isn’t the only Vanderpump Rules momma to pierce her daughter’s ears
As fans know, when Stassi welcomed Hartford into the world in January, it was just the beginning of the first Vanderpump Rules baby boom. In March, Stassi’s former co-star Lala Kent welcomed her daughter, Ocean, and then in April, both Brittany Cartwright and Scheana Shay also gave birth to their first children, Brittany’s son Cruz and Scheana’s daughter, Summer Moon.
Scheana was open about wanting to pierce Summer’s ears before she was even born. During an episode of her Scheananigans podcast, Scheana let it be known that she would follow through and she wasn’t worried about the judgment she’d receive.
“Kyle Chan has already offered to make her first diamond earrings, and her birthstone is gonna be a diamond,” Scheana shared. “And yes, I’m piercing my daughter’s ears when she’s a baby. Go ahead and judge me.”
Then, in early August, Scheana went ahead and did just that. Her mom, Erika, shared video from the day when Summer got her ears pierced. The post revealed that it was done in a doctor’s office and Erika confirmed that Summer Moon “was numbed and slept [through] all of it.”
Viewers may question the decisions of their favorite Vanderpump Rules stars, but it’s safe to say that both mommas put plenty of thought into their decisions and settled on what works best for their little ones.
Vanderpump Rules returns for Season 9 on Tuesday, September 28 at 9/8c on Bravo.