First Date

My 5 year old daughter and I are dressed in our finest. She in a princess white dress, I in a suit and tie. As we enter the building she sees a decorated archway and other young girls all dressed up for the evening with their favorite guy. Unknowingly, she begins to walk on her toes; in her mind she is walking on air. It is an attempt to be big enough to contain all the excitement of the occasion. Before entering the “dance hall” we stand in line to get our picture taken. As we wait, she is in constant motion looking for her friends. We smile pretty for the camera and then we walk back up the line that has grown in length from when we arrived. As we do, you can feel the excitement of all the girls as they admire each other’s formal attire. The excitement from the girls is not to be contained.

The gymnasium has been transformed into a dance hall. There is a live DJ standing on the dimly lit stage. The music is playing and there are multi-colored lights spreading patterns of color across the floor. White Christmas lights have been hung across the room providing an almost magical ambiance to the room. There are chairs around the room, currently unoccupied. At the far end of the room is a long table full of treats and refreshments.

As we enter, the music engages her feet and we dance. We are not alone; by the second, more proud fathers enter hand in hand with their princesses. Before long, the room is filled with people, music, dancing and that special relationship that exists between a father and his daughter. LOVE

My daughter is now in bed and I am trying to capture this special moment in time. It is a special event to go on your first date. It may blur in her memories but I think it will remain in mine. Her little body is tired, yet she is having a hard time winding down from the excitement of the evening. The cough she has had the last couple of nights does not help with getting to sleep.

Now I hear her calling for mommy, probably still having trouble going to sleep. What’s that? You need help? Oh no! We are now seeing a different kind of memory. The memory of what she had eaten: the cookies, the cheeseburger, the fries (all from our very special dinner at McDonalds before the dance, her choice of course) are all having an encore performance. Further proof she had too much fun!

Children have this wonderful ability to help us keep life on the real side. We need to embrace it. Does throwing up detract from my princess’s experience? No. It will be the same for me; actually, it makes the memory much better. Keeping it real!