Dear Erica

Dear Erica,

Last night was your preschool graduation. It was a painfully cute, unbelievably short affair but what it symbolized was so much greater than even the most lavish of ceremonies could have conveyed. Yes, it represented the fact that I can sit back and rejoice in the fact that I no longer have to pay for daycare (quite frankly, I did a dance of glee when I handed in that last check. To know that almost $700 a month goes back into our pockets is a blissful feeling). But your graduation was about so much more than not having to pay your school anymore (please don’t think this was a burden. It wasn’t). Your graduation was about the pride I felt as a parent, watching my almost kindergartner stand up in front of a room full of people and sing her heart out

It was about watching my little girl start to grow up.

Although you’re only 5 1/2, it seems like a lifetime ago that you were a newborn, confusing her days and nights. A brand new infant who did nothing but eat and cry is now a tall little girl with an imagination bigger than the sky (and an appetite even bigger than that). A child who was once afraid to walk on her own now runs and rides a bike and takes a Zumba class. A baby who wouldn’t even look at people you didn’t know now has the confidence to look anyone in the eye and say “hello”.

So much has changed yet so much has stayed the same.

You’re still my little girl who gives the best hugs and loves dogs and reads every book put in front of her. You’re still my darling child who can turn her attitude on a dime but still look you in the eye and say you’re sorry. You’re still the sweet child who loves to take naps with her mommy and garden with her daddy (and yes, I realize how much this says about your mommy and daddy as well). You’re still fiercely independent and strive to do everything the best that you can.

I’m glad that you haven’t changed in those respects. But I know that more change is on the horizon; it’s inevitable. Yet of all the parts about you that will change or you’ll forget about (like the fact that you want to be a mermaid or a fairy) in the future, there are some parts I hope never disappear.

I hope you never lose your love for animals and nature (although you are not at all fond of spiders. Honestly? I don’t blame you). I hope you never lose your curiosity for the world around you. I hope you never lose your enthusiasm for everything you do and love and believe in. I hope you never lose your ambition and confidence that you can do anything you want to. I hope you never lose the spirit that makes you so kind to others. I hope you never give up your vivid imagination and gift of storytelling. I hope you never give up that fierce independence. I hope that you remain a girl who can love Barbie and nail polish and football at the same time. And I hope that you never, ever forget how much your mommy and daddy love you.

I’m looking forward to the next chapter in our lives. I know it’s going to come equipped with more challenges than I can count. But I also know it’s going to come with happiness I can’t begin to measure.

I love you and I couldn’t be more proud of you. You are absolutely the best daughter a mommy could want and I’m so glad you’re mine.

Big hugs and love always,

Mommy