You know when it’s coming, you even know the month (June); still, there’s nothing gradual about the advent of a child’s graduation from preschool, elementary school, high school, college.  It hits you like a ton of bricks – someone’s hit a milestone and they’re growing up fast. We have two “graduations” in our family next week, one from preschool and one from elementary school.  I always thought that a graduation at the end of preschool was ridiculous.  A cap and gown for 5 year olds?  Diplomas? A C-E-R-E-M-O-N-Y?!?  That was until my 4 year old came home one day eager to perform all the songs and dance moves that she and her classmates have been practicing for weeks, in anticipation of next week’s ceremony.  I had to laugh when at the end of one song she added, “and then all the Mommies and Daddies clap.” There’s choreography, set decorations, a luncheon, and oh yes, little blue mortarboard caps.

For weeks I’ve been shopping and re-shopping (for the uninitiated, that’s shop – return – shop some more) with my 5^th grader for graduation dresses.  They, too, have been practicing for weeks, but I’m not allowed to know what it is. There are field trips and awards ceremonies, not to mention my daughter’s first boy-girl evening dance party and of course, the graduation ceremony itself. My daughter didn’t hesitate to inform me that it is ‘tradition’ to take your child to lunch after the ceremony.  Thank goodness she told me because, quite honestly, I was planning to head straight to work afterward.  Shopping for the dress for the ceremony was complicated by the fact that this year’s graduation theme is in honor of our troops, so the dress has to be red, white, blue or any combination thereof.  Trust me when I tell you that they don’t make young women’s summer dresses in red or blue. That’s right, we’re no longer shopping in the kids’ department!  You can defy your age with all the cosmetic products and procedures in the world, but there’s no denying your age when you realize that you’ve become that mother and daughter in the dress department arguing over the appropriateness of a strappy short dress with darts in all the right places.

My coping mechanism is to plan, so I’m planning where to go to buy balloons and flowers the morning of each graduation ceremony so as not to be outdone by the parents with the towering balloon bouquet and dozen long stem roses.  Did I mention the 48 graduation goody bags that we made?!?  I did buy my older daughter and I matching silver rings with a tiny pearl that say “Live, Love, Laugh” on them, so sentimentality is not all lost.  And then,  just as things were coming together and we settled on two dresses and two pairs of shoes and I started to get excited about her elementary graduation my daughter said, “Why are they making such a big deal about graduation?  Did they think we weren’t going to make it through 5^th grade?”  I launched into an impassioned speech about milestones and life events and celebrations, bringing people together, etc.  Is this her milestone or is it mine?

Yesterday I bought my 4 year old her graduation dress and thankfully, she likes it, but there’s more shopping to do because now she has requested a pink flower hair band to match.  I think I’ll skip the flowers for her because I know she loves balloons.  Truth be told, I am now fully immersed in the graduation spirit and I’m looking forward to all the events.  But there’s still one thing left to decide: what will I wear?