Don’t.
I know, I know. You came here looking for tips and tricks to keep you from becoming an emotional trainwreck at your child’s graduation, and I’m over here like, “No, just cry,” without anything useful to say.
But honestly. Just cry. Tips: Get some good waterproof mascara (or simply don’t wear any), bring tissues, and just go for it. Who cares? You’re not the only one crying. We are all tearing up at best and sobbing uncontrollably at worst. We are moms, for goodness sake. Our children are graduating from high school. Many are leaving to go to college. Someone we birthed, raised, loved, and encouraged for 18 years is done being a child and moving into adulthood, and if we want to cry, we’re fucking crying.
You want my advice?
- Cry when you see your baby dressed to leave
- Cry when they walk onto the field
- Cry when you see your baby in their cap and gown
- Cry when you hear Pomp and Circumstance play
Just cry.
Cry because 18 years passed in what feels like 15 minutes. Cry because you remember meeting that baby for the first time like it was yesterday. Cry because you remember the first time you held your baby. Cry because you remember kindergarten graduation caps and gowns, and high school caps and gowns felt really, really, really far away. Cry because you remember being exhausted. Cry because you remember wishing your baby would give you five fucking seconds of peace and quiet, and now your baby is leaving.
Cry because you miss your newborn, but also that toddler, but also that school-age baby, and that middle school nightmare, and those high school days. Cry because it’s over. Cry because something new is beginning. Cry because you feel like crying.
Cry because you spent 18 years wondering if you were a good mom, lying in bed wondering what you could have done better, and berating yourself for raising your voice. Cry because right now your baby is walking across that stage and entering a brand new phase of life, and it’s finally hitting you…
You did do it right.
You did it.
YOU DID IT.
You Earned These Tears
Late nights and sports and homework and friendship heartbreak and first love heartbreak and testing anxiety and midnight fevers and suddenly vomiting and burned dinners and forgotten lunchboxes and frustrating science projects and prom photos and award nights.
You have the privilege of raising this person who is becoming an adult. You have the privilege of being there for every single milestone in that child’s life, and you’ve done it. You did it. You earned these tears. Every emotion you’ve felt all these years is bubbling to the surface, and you just need to stop questioning it and let it flow.
You Want My Advice for Graduation Day?
Wear the dress. Take the photos. Smile when you feel like it. Cry when you feel like it. Hug your kids even when they want you to stop. Tell them you’re proud 9 million times. Cheer too loudly. Be too proud. And cry.
But do remember to bring good tissues. Not the cheap ones. Yuck.
You might hate that this moment is here right now, but there will be a day in the future when you’ll miss these days and wish more than anything you were right where you are right now all over again.
Hey, moms?
Congratulations.
Tiffany Raiford 