DADS & DOLLS
Disney stores are the devil. If you walk in with your kid, fair warning! You will not leave without purchasing an unnecessary child-friendly item featuring an iconic Disney character. Heaven help us parents still trying to figure out how to explain that every item on a shelf is NOT up for grabs and NOT instantly home-bound by the mere touching of little hands. God give me strength to resist our twins’ repeated cries of “Mine!”
So what did we cave in and purchase? We bought our girls their first “Barbie”-esque dolls. Yes, they’ve had plush dolls, plastic baby dolls you can pretend to bottle feed and miniature figurine dolls. But this was their first dolls where the shape was of a female with an insanely tiny waist accented by large (compared to that waist) breasts and a long mane of hair for days. Granted — one doll was actually Rapunzel, so you know, the hair was a must. But GEEZ MAN! They are growing up so fast! ARGH!!!!
I mean not really. Look, I understand that time is moving at the exact same pace as it was before we had kids. But having children can really make you MORE aware of the passing of time. I see how basically every day from their birth to I dunno, their 30th birthday, is (or is gonna be) a milestone to us. It seems like they are changing every day or week right now and IT JUST NEEDS TO SLOW DOWN!!!! WE’RE NOT READY!!!!
There, I said it. I let it out. And now I’m okay. The truth is our girls are growing up at the pace that they want to and basically — they want to go fast. Take riding scooters for instance. They want to be speed demons. They want to do tricks, balance on one leg, pass each other up and dramatically stop for a “Hurrah” of their awesome velocity. And I love that they just go for it — everyday. Picking up speed, learning new tricks and laughing all the way.
One of our daughters was obsessed with The Little Mermaid. At the Disney Store, there were two versions of Ariel — one as a Mermaid — sporting fins and a bikini top. The other was of Ariel, sans fins, but with human legs and a big ole white wedding dress. Which one did she want? Yup! The Wedding Dress Ariel. At which point I said to myself “Hell No.” We are not growing up that fast. And I quickly diverted her attention to Aurora (AKA Sleeping Beauty) who flaunts an all pink gown. And as pink is my girl’s signature color, we were in that one instance able to slow down time, just a little bit.
PS. Feel free to share your family shopping excursion or ordinary moment gone extraordinary with us at www.flipitlife.com. For us parents, sharing is daring when we share our truths and it can help us try new ideas out in our family lives. As always, we look forward to connecting with you!
