It's All in the Preparation
This was my last "mother of the girl" prom. I relinquished a little control this year and let somebody else take charge of hair and makeup. It was surprisingly refreshing not to have to carry that burden. Will the next time I find myself pent up with her in a bathroom be when we prepare for her to walk down the aisle? Who knows.
I few weeks have passed and I have had some time to reflect. The hustle and bustle of the preparations is so charged with energy. What fun it was to see her transformed before my eyes and not be the one transforming her. The preparations were actually more fun for her than the event as we had the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend and awesome hair stylist and joke with our neighbor who has a hidden talent for makeup.
I thought, how fun would it be for girls to have a place where they could enjoy the preparations together? We have always done these things on the fly - literally - including the time where Bella ran in from a soccer game and had two girls blowing her hair dry at once to get her out the door for pictures. What if this day was about friendship and fellowship for the whole day and not about the limo, the restaurant and the after party?
I realize how lucky my kids are to have every minute of their life documented - and not only recorded, but printed as well as saved on a server and a backup drive. I have been asked to do proms for others and it intrigues me to want to capture the process as much as the final product. In our case, it was where the fun really happens. It's not only a memory for her, but a precious one for me as I watch my little girl who always tried to sneak out of the house in a princess dress actually be transformed into one and the Cinderella story that followed.
The takeaway from all of this . . . . enjoy the race, not just the finish line.
