There is nothing quite so terrifying for a parent as having your child/children be participants in a wedding. The sheer terror of setting your toddler loose on a church full of people loaded with a flower bucket full of petals and the temper of a wet kitten facing a freshly cooked piece of chicken is not for the faint of heart.
My best friend’s wedding was this weekend, and I can say with a sigh of relief that we not only survived, but thrived in our responsibilities. As the maid of honor, I was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, and up to the days before, I had spent most of my days prepping my eight-year-old to play her violin for the bride and groom during the processional and recessional. I can definitely confirm that practice, though not making it perfect, helps prevent panic! She did her songs and worked through them without batting an eye, even when there were errors.
I couldn’t be prouder!
When deciding how to prepare my two littles for the most public performances of their lives, my theory for my volatile curly-top angel was to ignore the process until the last moment. Perhaps I should have prepared a carefully thought-out, stepped acclimation to the idea, but I had no energy to do that. So, we winged it.
I really thought we would regret it when, after the first run-through, she started crawling down the aisle and meowing like a kitten. Flashbacks from my own experience as a flower girl, when my cousin decided I was too happy and kicked me so I’d start to scream like a banshee, were not reassuring.
A semi-successful run turned into the kitten crawl, the fearful blubber, and the all-too-familiar collapse and play dead; I had to get creative. My solution? Sad to say, bribery. All the chocolatey goodness of a mini Snickers awaiting my cute yet stubborn little one at the end of the aisle. It took only two tries before her chocolate-smeared lips were grinning. The final, pivotal moment saw her curly, adorable head bouncing happily down the aisle while launching petals to the ceiling, and she made sure to get every last one out before she left, her last piece of chocolate in hand.
Now, I hope to not have to participate in any more weddings for a bit. Please and thank you.
