A Princess Adventure!

I sat in the tiny chair at a tiny table.  I held a tiny pink cup and said, "Thank you," to my 2-year-old daughter as she pretended to pour tea into my cup from the pink tea pitcher.  Her purple tiara resting on top of a bundle of blonde curls as she smiled and said, "There you go, mama."  We pretended to drink our tea and she looked up at me with those big blue eyes.  A smile spread across her little face as she nodded and said, "Mmmm."  I, of course, complimented her pretend tea making and serving skills as I sat under my own sparkling tiara.

When I was a little girl I loved fairy tales. I didn't just love the castles, the knights, the tiaras; I also loved the adventure of it all.  My imagination soared as I ran through the trees in my grandparents' yard pretending I was a princess on a mission.  Princesses didn't just sit in the castle and yell, "Eek!" when they saw a bug.  In my mind, princesses could use a sword and stood up for themselves.  They got to have parties (because saying, "They got to have balls," just doesn't seem to flow like it should!) and tea parties, but they also went on many adventures and even managed to save the day.  There is no limit to the imagination.

Enter adulthood and the real world. Parts of our childhood fairy tales do come true, but it is never as we imagined.  The dungeon is now used as a time out spot for that child who misbehaved.  Tea parties have been replaced with juice boxes and quick snacks as we hop in the carriage and run to the village from one appointment to another. Somewhere along the way the pampering part of being a princess got pushed to the side and the adventure took over.

I sit in this tiny chair and watch my little girl happily have a tea party with me. I can't help but embrace the adventure.  Busy schedules, budgets, sick children . . . a mom's life in 2014!  Adventure is what got us to where we are today.  Adventure is what made us the women we are.  Adventure reminds us that while we ARE princesses, there is more to this gig than sitting on the throne!  We have to get our hands dirty, sacrifice pampering to pay for a child's braces, and trade our glass slippers for sneakers that can get us to all of our appointments comfortably!

To all of my mom friends out there, you ARE princesses!  Never forget that! Let's enjoy this adventure!