Mommy’s body art can be source of stories and stares

Young James has a problem. He’s scared of his new neighbor, Mr. Too, who has colorful tattoos all up his arms and on his neck.

Then James’ older sister drops the bombshell: Mommy has a tattoo, too.

This revelation sends James on quest to learn about the mystery tattoo and propels the story in “Mommy Has a Tattoo,” a new children’s book by Phil Padwe.

That mommy has a tattoo should surprise no one. A 2004 Harris Poll found that nearly half of Americans ages 18 to 29 have tattoos, as do more than a quarter of adults ages 30 to 39. A study earlier this year by the American Academy of Dermatology found that 24 percent of adults ages 18 to 50 sport some ink.

With numbers such as those, it’s clear that tattoos are closer to the mainstream than they were 20 years ago. Still, even in a place as diverse as Manhattan, tattoos can elicit stares. Padwe, a New York illustrator and marketing professional, has tattoo “sleeves,” meaning his arms are covered with tattoos. As he told the Orlando Sentinel last month, he’s seen children “recoil in horror” at the sight of his body art.

He wrote and illustrated “Mommy Has a Tattoo” and published it through his own company, Mommy Has Tattoos. It’s available through Amazon.com or Padwe’s site, mommyhastattoos.com.

Featuring cheerful illustrations and bright colors, Padwe’s book tells the story of how James discovers that his tattooed neighbor isn’t scary after all.”It’s about teaching tattoo tolerance,” Padwe told the Sentinel.

Sharon Givens of Coeur d’Alene hasn’t seen the book, but she can appreciate its message of tattoo tolerance. Givens has two daughters, Lily, 23 months, and Hattie, 5 weeks – and three tattoos on her legs.

“It sounds cute,” she said of the book. “It’s a good kind of lesson to learn that people who look different aren’t necessarily freaky.”

Michele Torres of Coeur d’Alene also would be interested in seeing the book. She admits that she doesn’t notice anyone staring at her body art, but she knows kids are interested in tattoos.

After she got her third tattoo, a red-eyed tree frog, she showed it to a friend. The friend’s 5-year-old daughter wanted to know why Torres had a sticker on her back.

When Torres told her the sticker was permanent, the young girl fired off a barrage of questions. Eventually, Torres’ young friend decided the frog was named Zeke. The name has stuck.

Her tattoos – including a goldfish on her ankle and a rose on her chest – also sparked intrigue among the junior-high set. Torres, whose children are 2-year-old Alexandra and 7-month-old Benjamin, used to teach physical education at a Moscow, Idaho, junior high school.

“They were like, “Ooo, Mrs. Torres has a tattoo. She’s groovy,’ ” she said.

But interest hasn’t meant scorn or fear, at least not for Torres or Givens, or Amy Oien of Spokane. Oien, whose son, Cameron will be 2 in January, has two dolphin designs, on her calf and her back.

Her ink hasn’t generated too many funny stories from her son or her nieces. “I think because it’s a dolphin, it’s neat to them,” she said. “They’re interested in dolphins.”

For these three mothers, teaching their kids to accept tattoos should be fairly easy. After all, their children have been exposed to tattoos since birth. Lily Givens called her mommy’s tattoos a “boo boo.”

Oien’s son also has asked about the design on her leg.

“He’s just more curious about what it is,” she said. “At first he looked at his leg to see if he had one.”

Walt Dailey, owner of Tiger Tattoo and Piercing in Spokane, admits to being a bit mystified about the need for a book such as “Mommy Has a Tattoo.”

“Honestly, I’ve never heard of a little kid needing an explanation of a tattoo,” he said.

With two reality TV shows devoted to tattoo shops, and the sheer numbers of tattoos adorning bodies in the U.S., there’s little new to say about tattoos, he said. “I don’t think it’s really much of a human interest story any more,” he said.

While the Givens, Oien and Torres children are too young to be asking for tattoos, all three moms are prepared with a similar answer: When their kids are adults, they can do as they wish.

“She’ll have to wait until she’s 18, just like Mommy did,” Givens said, “and she’ll have to pay for it herself, just like Mommy did.”