A little over 15 years ago, the ultrasound tech said, “It looks like it’s a girl.”
“Are you SURE?” I asked.
“I’m about 90 percent sure,” he said. “There’s always a little possibility that it’s a boy.” He smiled.
My heart danced. I had always dreamed of a little girl. Pink dresses. A pink bedroom. Barbies, dolls, and a little kitchen set. I couldn’t wait to meet this little one.
“It’s a girl!”
Sure enough, the ultrasound guy got it right.
I painted her room pink. Bought loads of pink dresses and pink outfits. Pink socks. Pink hair bows. Even Barbie had a collection of pink stuff, including pink plastic shoes and a pink purse.
Then one day, she came home from preschool and announced, “I hate pink. And I hate dresses.”
Thunk went my heart.
I did everything I could to cajole her. “Honey, we’re going out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, how about you wear your pink sundress? Or the blue one? Or the cute purple one?”
No, no and no!
She went through several years where she never donned a dress. Or anything pink. “I hate pink!” she would remind me. She stopped asking me to braid her hair. She borrowed her brother’s clothes and held her own when roughhousing with them. I resigned myself to the fact that I birthed three boys.
Then she became a tween. Pink was suddenly vogue. I got my little girl back!
And the arguments began.
“That skirt is too short!”
“Those heels are too high!”
“You’re not going out in public wearing that!“
Lauren’s favorite way to pass the time was to grab a gal pal and go shopping. They would try on dresses. For hours. And snap photos of the two of them pouting and posing, pretending to be famous models. I would view the pictures with amusement when they uploaded them to the hard drive.
Today, my little girl has blossomed into a beautiful, amazing… girl. I’m not ready to say “woman” just yet, because every single time I look into her eyes, I see the baby that arrived fifteen years ago.
Happy Birthday, Lauren Marie! I love you!
Comments
9 responses to “Happy Birthday to My Girl!”
Yeahhhhh how sweet of you mamma:) You have a beautiful daughter! I never had any kids but then again I was too selfish and too busy to commit my life to raising a little human. Thanks to women like you for doing such a great job for our future. 🙂
Happy birthday Baby Girl!
What a lovely story. Thanks for sharing.
Lovely little girl/young lady.
Happy Birthday Lauren Marie!
Awww… Happy Birthday to Lauren!!
Karen….
I remember standing in the operating room videotaping Lauren coming into the world, hoping I wasn’t going to pass out from seeing you get a C-section…..what a beautiful person Lauren is, inside and out….we are pretty lucky mom’s! Happy Birthday Lauren!!
xoxox
What a beautiful daughter – at all ages of her life! My daughter, Laura, threw off dresses aged two, aged three would only wear dresses, and now has her own style! Many happy returns!
Karen, a beautiful story about a beautiful “little” girl. I remember how pretty she was as a toddler & is just as pretty or more so today as a young woman. Happy Birthday Lauren!!!
Hey, congratulations to Mom and Happy Birthday to Lauren! A big ol’ tip o’ the hat to the both of you!
What a great post! They just seem to grow up so fast. 🙂