Posted on April 12, 2011 by admin

Our girls are always getting ready for something, right? Sometimes it’s prom (whether they are going or not), their first kiss, a new school, a new grade, a new sport/club, meeting a new friend, the finalization of a divorce, getting over a fight with a friend, waiting for the pain of a loved one to feel less intense, waiting for their body to change, waiting to find the words to express themselves, or waiting to have more solid friendships. Sometimes the waiting and the getting ready part is just plain uncomfortable. As parents, we often want the discomfort that comes along with “getting ready” to just go away. We want the process to hurry up, so we can reach the final goal and move on to the next thing.

In my office we work and play with the getting ready part. We get ready to face our anger so we can respond to it more appropriately, we become more aware and in-tune to our feelings so we can get ready to share them with Mom/Dad. We build our self-esteem so we can get ready to face what seems like a very hard day at school, we share feelings of not feeling worthy of love so one day when we are ready, we will be open to it. If you knew your girl was getting ready to make her next big shift or stride would you go about the process or support her differently? I have seen girls make such awesome strides, with themselves, friends and families. With each new shift they had to spend time getting ready for it. They had to sit with some discomfort. They had to work through and process the challenge at hand in order to tackle it…when they were ready.

What are you getting ready for? I’m getting ready, to get ready to have a baby! Now, of course most people say “You will never be ready enough!” One part of me believes them but a bigger part of me deeply celebrates this process, knowing that I am doing everything I can do to get ready. After all, isn’t this what’s its all about!?! What else would be doing if we weren’t getting ready for something?