Make believe

Yesterday we had decided to go out to a nice dinner, just us as a family. Jerome was working outside and I was working inside. I told the kids to go ahead and get their showers and be getting ready to go out to dinner.

A little while later Natalie walked into the kitchen where I was working, she was all dressed up.

Dressed up wearing my high heels and jewelry.

"How do I look Mommy?", she asked me (it makes me smile that she still calls me mommy).

"Beautiful Natalie", I replied.

"I wanted to dress up." she said.

I smiled soaking up this moment.

For it wasn't long ago she was dressing up as fairytale characters and princesses that filled her books she read at night.

She would get in my make-up then but smear it all over her face, but beautiful as ever because she was proud to be wearing make-up like her mommy.

Now she doesn't dress up as Dorothy and sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow with me. She doesn't dress up as Snow White and sit wide eyed watching her favorite movie. She doesn't dress up as Cinderella or Tinkerbell, or play mommy to her new baby doll.

Now she dresses up to be the young woman she wants to be.

She puts on my pearls and high heels, even though they are still just a little to big for her. She carefully puts on her make up and still asks to borrow my red lipstick. She doesn't talk about happily ever afters to me anymore, instead she talks about how she can't wait to dress up for prom and what her dress will look like.

Where did my daydreaming, horse collecting, princess loving little girl go?

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We made time before going to dinner to take some pictures of her all dressed up.

We went to Olive Garden for dinner and as we were leaving I put my arm through Jerome's and whispered to him to watch Natalie walking in my heels. She was doing her very best, but you could tell she was new at wearing them.

~Amber Hope
What Matters Most To Me