All week long Alex has been teasing us about the “Mothers’
Day” surprise. After a few rounds of “guess what my surprise is?” I finally learned
Alex and some of the other senior girls were going to put on a fashion show for
their mothers for Mother’s Day. 

For days I had lovely visions of Alex in a dress, with a bra, make-up
and cute shoes.  I figured that since she
dressed up for the prom, she would do it again. After all, she is graduating from
high school in a few short weeks and becoming a young adult. I wanted to believe that the trauma of dressing like a girl
for the prom had changed Alex for the better. Maybe she learned that she really is a pretty girl (just like I said!) and nice clothes and a little make-up are okay.

Yes, I was quite excited, convinced Alex had changed and could
embrace her femininity.  The butterflies
in my stomach grew when we arrived at the fashion show to see 12 of Alex’s
peers dressed in beautiful clothes, with makeup and high heels. The lack of
bras could be excused due to plunging backlines, and all the girls were stunning.  I was a bit disappointed to see Alex was still dressed in her loose baggy
clothes, but she explained her “costume” was back stage. What high hopes I had!

As each of the girls took the runway to strut their stuff I
got more and more excited. Alex in a dress, looking and acting like a girl gave
me goose bumps. Did I finally have a convert, someone who believed me when I told
her she was beautiful? Was my tomboy graduating from high school and a pretty
young lady emerging?  

Finally, Alex took to the runway and this is what we saw……

My daughter is still a tomboy and a cowboy at that…..and about that losing weight thing….there are a lot more lbs to go…..

We all know that people with down syndrome are delayed in many things, in Alex’s case she is also delayed in graduating from the tomboy-ness department too. I will still dream though because I know Alex will grow and learn more and more everyday day. Just like all of us.