From Cheerios to Chiffon

From Cheerios to Chiffon

Tomorrow, I going to visit my daughter so we can get her wedding dress fitted. 👰

Her wedding dress.

The one who made me a mom first is getting married. Be still my heart.   I keep asking myself the same question: How is this even possible?

Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was hiding in the cupboard with a box of Cheerios, sticking her hand out to share with the dog and giggling when she felt the roughness of the dog’s tongue?  Wasn’t it just last week that her favorite song was Happy Tapping with Elmo?  Last month that Molly, her favorite doll, waltzed with her as she sang “I Love you, I walked with you once upon a dream” singing the song from start to finish? Always have to finish.   That adorable tween taking her fashion statements so seriously?  The high school entrepreneur baking everyone’s favorite cupcake flavor in bulk in the kitchen? Wasn’t that just yesterday?  

Those precious hands that used to hold her Molly doll oh so tenderly are now practicing making wedding bouquets for the day she will hold one.

And I can hardly stand it. 

Except, it’s also wonderful.

We’ll stand in front of a mirror, and I will zip her into the dress she chose with so much care and joy and love.  I’m practicing crying in advance so I can pull it off when it counts with out messing that beautiful dress up.  (Strategic tears. Emotional budgeting. Let’s call it what it is.)

This isn’t just a fitting.
This isn’t just lace and fabric and tulle.
This is a marker of her becoming.

She’s still that girl, joyful, creative, determined, but she's also grown into a woman who lives with such thoughtfulness and heart.  I’m so grateful I’ve had a front row seat to all she has become.

And me?

It’s my marker, too.  A new chapter of what it is to be her mom. 

Maybe you know that feeling, when the ones we raise feel more like peers, when we start to mother from beside.  It’s such a sacred shift.

If you catch me blinking back tears, or dissolving into a puddle, just know. It’s not just a moment, It’s all the moments.

From cupboard Cheerios to cupcakes to chiffon.
From your first song to your forever vow.
From clutching Molly in your hands to holding your bouquet.

And yes, sweet girl, I’ll be cheering you on.
Always have been.
Always will. ❤️