The story was well-written and it had a solid plot that was believable.  The ending was thought out well; overall, the story was a great read.

A nicely written story with gentle themes.
I enjoyed it very much.

I loved it! ... Very sweet! ...
I wish I had had a life ...
Acceptance loving ... soft and delicate ... as the soul of girl who got ...
But I'm still an ogre ...
Congratulations on your story! ...
Kisses!

I have just read "A Day of Firsts" and "Symmetry".  Both begin with standard CD fantasies, but end with more realistic encounters. In Symmetry, I liked the balance between the conscious and the unconscious, between the anima and the animus although the animus was limited in both mother & grandmother.  In 'Day' it was the facing of the shadow side with humor that made me feel that your writing has real possibilities.  I have been searching for the positives in these phenomenas since '65 and eventually discovered the ideas of CG Jung.  

I really agree with Jezzy Stewart.
Mike has been betrayed by his own mother and his grandmother.
Hugs.
Silvia.

OK, I commented on this story in 2002, 2004, and 2006, and here I am another two years later commenting on it for the 4th time.  It pays to re-read, because this time I really locked in on this ...

<<  "No honey, what I mean is you’re defined by more than just the clothes you wear. Don’t you see that your whole attitude changed the day you put that bridesmaid’s dress on. A part of you has emerged that I haven’t seen in a long time. Shelley has always been inside of you and posing as a female has brought all of her traits to the surface. >>

... and the passage has finally changed my mind.  I have misjudged Mom all along.  I think during the ride home from the dress fitting, she saw what was really going on, that, as she said, a heretofore hidden part of her child was emerging, so she decided to trick him into giving this new feminine part more time.  When he agreed to go to the lake, it confirmed to her that her decision had been the right one.  Soooo, I WAS WRONG! (You won't read that very often :-)  The continuation of Shelly was her child's choice, albeit at the time it was the subconscious making it, and Mom wasn't a bad mom, but a very insightful, very good one.

Sorry about those previous three comments, Karthryn.

What Jezzi wrote, on 03/13/04 and 09/10/06, particularly in reference to: "You got yourself into this one. I just wanted you to try on a bridesmaid dress, I never expected you to consent to wearing a skirt past today." I see this sort of hypocrisy quite frequently, both in TG fiction and in real life. It's the sort of thing that makes me angrily mock my own gender dysphoria by saying "I wish I could be a woman so that I didn't have to be responsible for anything!" 12-steppers have a saying: "Denial -- it's not a river in Egypt." We "female wannabes" in the gender community carry a lot of women's "shadow" (cf. Carl Jung), and it is certainly reflected in much of TG fiction. The particular sort of denial and hypocrisy illustrated in this story, against which Jezzi and I are protesting, is certainly a large part of the dark side of feminine energy. (Of course men do that also, but there is a style and a flavour that is entirely distinct.)

This one was cool.

There was pressure involved initially in his cross dressing.
But after that first instant he seemed to make his own choices.
And as for humiliation and abuse i saw none to react over.

So innocent and interesting is my take.

cheers
Yoron.

Interesting story, not sure if I would be mad or thrilled.

I just reread this and my previous comments stand.  How can this be labled sweet and sentimental?  This is totally undeserved petticoat punishment.

<<  "You got yourself into this one. I just wanted you to try on a bridesmaid dress, I never expected you to consent to wearing a skirt past today."  >>

How could mom be such a boldfaced liar !!  She knew for sure he didn't want to continue being a girl a minute longer than necessary, yet even though he had done as she and grandma asked 110%, she deliberately manuvered him into babysitting and then has the nerve to lie to him about only wanting him to try on the bridesmaid dress, as if the babysitting had been his idea.  WHY ??

 Delightful..  and showed a lot of talent .. It started off a little
rough mike with no girl 101  training .....showed a mature side with the kids .....  loved the story keep up the good work...look forward
to another chapter >>>maybe ??  Next summer  SHES  BAAaaaAACKK HERES
SHELLY  /  MIKE  
Again  Thank  you   Rone  

I just reread this story.
what a bitch mom turned out to be!  Why would his mother betray her own son like she did?  She clearly deliberately set him up on the babysitting job knowing full well he didn't want to be a girl a minute longer.  And this after he had done what she asked and performed above and beyond the call of duty as a bridesmaid.  She knew from teasing him about going to dinner that he didn't want to be a girl a minute longer.  Yet she deliberately called out for Shelly and deliberately, when he came down refused to help him get out of the babysitting job, instead making it impossible for him to do so.   Even if Liz  had seen "Shelly" and that was why she asked, mom could have said that Shelly wasn't feeling good, or made some excuse.  In fact, instead of calling out for Shelly, she could have told Liz she would go upstairs and ask Shelly and then tried to convince her son to agree voluntatily.  But no, she knew, or thought she knew, that he would say no so she  put him in a position where he had to do it.  She put her desire to do a favor for another adult over what she knew was the desire of her child, who had earned the right to have his wishes respected.

What I can't understand is why he didn't call her on it .  I thought he was being pretty mature not saying anythin when they were alone immediately after that, not causing a scene with Liz was still in the house, but when he got home and she clearly lied to him by saying all she wanted was for him to wear the bridesmaid dress, I would think he would have raised holy hell.   He had been set up and betrayed and he didn't deserve to be treated like that.  Mom sold out her son.

an excellent story it was good how after a little fuss mike got into the routine and carried it through I would like to see more of caught with the consequences stories

   A very nice story! The interaction with the children was a nice touch. This is really what I believe a TV/Crossdresser is all about.
   Okay, that said: there are a few spelling errors that detract from the reading. As an example, "now a days" is one word. A re-read before submitting does help a lot.

this is a nice story,would not mind filling in for a fitting or eaven being part of a wedding party.For going from boy to girl,and makeing money at the same time,not a bad deal.I do hope you do more storys,keep up the good work.  Rhonda

this is my favorite site on the internet and i come here all the time. ive read many stories like this one, but simply put: you do it the best. please write more. youve addicted me! :)jk but i would honestly love to read more like this and i reccomend this story to anyone. thanks

hugs and kisses,
leslie

A common theme for a story that was done extremely well. Keeping the interest is the main point of any story and this author has done just that. I found this tale to be written with a very flowing style and finding it long enough to give me one of it's readers enough length to make it worth the effort. I enjoyed it very much.

Diane

Symmetry is a real nice, warm story. I loved the way Sarah and Aimee took to Shelly. Love given, begats love returned in a huge way. Michael's hesitation to help with a fitting was just enough to set the pace for the story.

All good stories need a setup or introduction to the characters where we get to know them personally, a plot where we are swept into the story with the characters, a building of theme, (even good love stories have all this), and a "gotchu" toward the ending.

Kathryn Nelson, you did very well as a short story writer. I would have liked more dialoge between characters but "Symmetry" left me feeling warm and fuzzy. I love those kind of stories!

Write for your own pleasure and do it from the heart and soul. If you feel your story, your readers will too. Remember, critics are just that, critics! John Grisham's novel "The Firm" was turned down by over fifty publishers before one publisher saw it as a worth while project. Drop me a note when you post your next story. I like the way you write.

Thinking some more about Jezzi's criticisms...as far as I'm
concerned, the bridesmaid business is just one more pretext for
getting a boy into feminine attire.  We know that he doesn't need
to dress from the skin out, but that's just a convention we accept
for the sake of the boy's feminization.  For me, that's not the
important part of the story, fun though it is to see him getting
decked out and made up.  The important part is, what happens then?
How does the situation play out?  Is he reconciled or not?  Well,
he usually is in these stories, so then, how does it happen?  It
doesn't need to be spelled out in great detail, because changes in
our lives sometimes happen without our being aware--for example, we
suddenly discover that we haven't been on the computer since we
first got "dressed."
.
Oh, well...I guess I just have a weakness for the "sweet/sentimen-
tal" kind of story, and this one did it for me.
.
Pervy

What is it that made this story, in a well-worn genre, so special?
I think it was the warmth with which Shelley was surrounded.  That
and the fact that the hardest part of such a story--describing the
way the boy is reconciled to his new presentation--was handled very
smoothly here.  Suddenly he felt at home in his new persona,
"before you knew it," or rather, before he knew it.  And the
particular way his cover is blown is a new twist, for me anyway,
and the upshot of that is also good.
.
I guess Jezzi's criticisms are well taken.  Even so, I found it a
deeply satisfying story about real characters.  Well done.
.
Pervy

I enjoyed this fantasy just the way it is.
I hope you write another story about Shelley.
Thanks for the nice emotions and great read.

A very good job. Reminds me somewhat of my own work.  I like how you did not have the protagonist WANT to become a girl--as so many of these type stories often end up.  You had a good balance between slight reluctance and acceptance on the part of our hero as he assumed his new role.

M12

Very nice story.

Babysitting is always a tough sell.  Children do not buy into primary gender indicators.  They see what they see and are very observant. You did a very nice job of indicating their total acceptance.  (Several times in my life I've been taken for a woman by children when dressed completely drab.)  They have x-ray vision; going to the soul.  You can't fool kids or dogs.

Given a slightly weak premise you did a great job.  I agree with Jez in that the fitting really didn't hang together.  What was the rush?  Would they really want a substitute body that was somewhat the same size?  If there was any time at all before the wedding, the seamstress would want the actual bridesmaid.

Brides want their weddings to be nothing less than perfect.  A sub for a fitting just would not do.

However, once you got by that small leap of faith, the story rocked.

There was one other small thing.  Beth was described as being rather self centered and selfish.  Would've she really been so eager to share her wardrobe?  I think you had a chance in the story to have her leave in a huff with one of her gentlemen friends.  I thought you were going that way when she argued with her mother.  She could have left behind her wardrobe and a commitment to be a bridesmaid that Michelle would have to fulfill.

You're a marvelous storyteller.  I loved the way you showed how much better things were when Mike was dressed, through the actions of the grandmother.  Although, I wish you would have done something more with the truckdriver.

As a one-time teacher, a B+ for craftsmanship and a C- for plot.  Average grade being a C for all CD stories I've read (most) on this site.

Jill

I liked this story; it reminded me of Ellen Hayes' Valerie's (Tuck) baby sitting adventures.  I also liked the idea of balance, that he didn't want to become all girl.  There were two things, however, that didn't ring true for me.
1) Why did he have to dress as a girl outwardly at all for the fitting?  To fit the dress, all that was necessary was the shape, and he could have been shaped very quickly at the store. His mom had told him the only ones who would know he did it were the people at the store, so passing to protect him from ridicule wasn't an issue.
2)  Mom knew Mike didn't want to continue as Shelly since he had turned down the dinner offer.  It seemed kind of mean for her to call for "Shelly" to babysit.  Mom, or for that matter, Mike, could have done it.