Little Tinkerbell

One of the things we have learned as parents is that our kids need individual time with us. We love them equally and they love to be together, but each of them needs separate time with Mom and Dad.

That is why this is a day Elaine has been eagerly awaiting for two weeks. Today she is going all by herself with Daddy to see Disney on Ice. This year for the first time, they are especially featuring Tinkerbell and all her fairies. Tinkerbell is Elaine's absolute favorite (she looks a bit like her, don't you think?)

When Lucy was 3 and Elaine was 1, Lucy got to go with just Dad to see the Disney princesses on ice. Darren was afraid he would have to turn in his Man Card for this activity, but they had a great time. Lucy still talks about it, especially the part where Malificent was in her dragon form and breathed fire halfway down the arena, and she started to cry, along with all the other little kids around her. Darren told me later, "It was scary, Alice. The flames were longer than the distance from our living room to the end of the dining room. I almost cried too."

So we decided this year it was Elaine's turn. I was disappointed that it wasn't Princesses on Ice until I saw that the special feature was Tinkerbell. Darren has been teasing her for days, saying, "I decided we're not going to go. We'll just go to Farm-n-Fleet instead. You love that. It'll be fun!" Elaine will say, "You're just teasing, Daddy. We ARE going to see Tinkerbell AND ALL THE FAIRIES," her voice rising with each note.

This morning she was up bright and early, chomping at the bit to go. She marched into our room in the dark with her curlers in her hair (she had to have her hair curled for this special event) and told me it was time to get dressed now. She got the cutest fairy dress from Darren's brother and sister-in-law for Christmas, and I thought the best time to break it out would be for this day.

Here are Daddy and Elaine, all ready to go:



Here is a good shot of the outfit. After I took this picture, Elaine said, "Mom, do you know who gave me this dress? Barack Obama's grandma."



The day is working out perfectly in other ways too because Lucy was scheduled to go to kindergarten all day last Friday but couldn't because school was closed. So, she is going all day today (she begs every week to go all day and plans obsessively which lunch selection she's going to choose. Plus Fridays are computer days, which she likes a lot).

I dropped her off at 8, and Darren and Elaine left at 9. They're going to IHOP for breakfast first. I am sitting in my house. All by myself. Oh, what's that I hear? Why, it's silence! I am completely free and alone until 2:45! This is unheard of! Unprecedented! I'm just sipping my mug of tea and contemplating going to the post office. Then maybe Target. Then I'm meeting my friend Julie for lunch. I may drop into a little children's clothing consignment shop I discovered last week. The world is mine.

Happy weekend!