MlleGrimm

I was 19 for my first one, got in October on my left calf and was able to hide it until my 3rd (which started peeking out of my sleeve.. summer would've screwed me over anyways). Anyway, my idea behind it is to keep your loved ones close since you don't know how long they'll be there. I get a few meaningful ones here and there, but the majority of mine are just because I liked the artwork or needed to practice during my apprenticeship :)

I feel bad for anyone who has to be around that woman at any point during their day, be it at work, at home or because they are friends. What an ignorant fucking cunt. How about you get over yourself and realize that your children aren't 3 year olds anymore and there isn't shit you can do about it.
If she really loved her son as much as she claims, she'd have no problem over looking something so superficial and realize he's the same little boy she raised, and he's turned out the way he has because of how she raised him.

A bit of a sub-story to the Eastern Promises russian prison tattoos

I hear ya. This happened a lot at the last shop I worked at. My default fix was to put long eyelashes on it if the piece is an animal. If its a inanimate desgin I just use the power of suggestion after drawing up the design and telling them, "see what I did there? (points to whatever) That's to give it a more delecate feminine vibe"
They almost always go with it.

I give my artists a 'vibe' (e.g. benevolent, spriritual) and a 'subject' (e.g. Tibetan skull) -- then I let them do their interpretation. I want my artists to feel challenged, inspired, yet comfortable. It's a tough sort of balancing act, but I think it yields the best possible result. When the artist wants to take a lot of pictures of the tattoo then I feel I got his best.