A dream come true.

I started dreaming about Baby Doll long before she arrived. I would have a girl! She would be full of joy and mischief, which is how I arrived at the name Lucy. It was full of spunk and kind of old-fashioned. Like no other name I could think of, Lucy seemed to encapsulate what I wanted for my little girl.

The road to Lucy was long and difficult and today, none of that matters.

Ten years ago, she came into this world with her eyes wide-open--curious about the world around her from the second she arrived.

In day-to-day parenting, it can be easy to forget the people you are raising are gifts.

"Dirty socks don't really belong on the dining room table. Could you please remove the 4 water glasses, 3 shoes, 8 books, 11 socks and 2 sketch pads from underneath your bed? Those "collections" of newspaper comics, nut crackers, pencils old and new, hair bands, and jewelry never worn make entrance to your room hard to navigate."

Daily gripes can get in the way of better things.

Spontaneous giggling, daily singing, perpetually doodling on any writing surface, the constant re-reading of the entire Harry Potter series, wand making, Sunday mornings crepes made by a girl who dreams of Paris and seems stymied by this concern: should she attend college in France or Winona? The city lights jazz her, yet she gets lost in the moment on a trail in the woods and I know she has left me to become a wizard. A budding writer herself, she established her first chapter of a mystery on the long car ride home to Iowa. It's taking shape, she says, but it's not done.

I hate that I forget that my reality is so much better than my dream.

Birthdays aren't for the kids. They are for the parents- marking the moment their dream came true and celebrating the shape it's taking. At least that is what it is for me. Let me not worry about the murky stuff in between for just a moment, I think.

Thank you, Baby Doll, for being a dream come true.

Comments

  1. Lisa - What a lovely tribute to a darling young woman. I do so enjoy Lucy; I love it that she has the self confidence to speak her mind. Always. I hope she never loses that quality. Happy Birthday, Lucy Goose!

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  2. "Birthdays aren't for the kids. They are for the parents- marking the moment their dream came true and celebrating the shape it's taking." Loved this.

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  3. Lisa - this is beautiful. I remember when Lucy was born as she was the baby that sparked my own "baby fever". :) Thank you for the fresh perspective on my own reality and Happy Birthday to Lucy.

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