I bought into the multi billion dollar machine that we call Disney this past weekend. My three girls wanted to see Beauty and the beast in 3D. How could I say no. Please, mind you...this is coming from a woman that was known as "the femi-nazi" in art school.
I desperately wanted to play with my male cousins' Star Wars figures during childhood but was raised by a mother and aunt who adored Barbie. This of course led to a collection of dolls in my youth, a yearning for other toys and a collection of Star Wars figures in adulthood. ----My, oh my, how things have changed.
Barbie and Princesses didn't enter our home until our second daughter, Grace was born. Our oldest, Addi is an animal lover. We have been inundated with stuffed animals for the last 9 1/2 years. I love them, but come on...enough is enough. They are huge! Not to mention they get smelly and dirty. I don't have space for a family of five, a German, an 80 lb. yellow lab and collections of oversized teddies and doggies. -but we do it. The walls are shrinking. Barbie was welcomed. The fact that her proportions are grotesquely inaccurate and she is an idealized male fantasy became minimal. She is small. Her accessories although many, are tiny. She fits within the confines of our three bedroom ranch and she has made our two youngest very happy. This is enough for me to melt. I never liked pink until my Gracie came our way. Now look at me...I am Girlie momma and proud.
So this past Sunday we were off to the movies. It was quite the memorable moment. The kids were psyched because they really wanted to see the film short of the "Tangled Wedding." I was thrilled because this was the first time that Gracie girl was going to a movie with her glasses (...and my little sister was arriving there with coffee! ahhh, caramel macchiato.) Jim and I recently found out that our Grace has been close to blind in her left eye since birth. She is an incredibly clever girl and has a phonographic memory. She has also overcompensated beautifully with her close to perfect right eye her entire life. This doesn't mean that she has been able to see clearly. It means that she has never realized that her way of seeing the world wasn't "the normal way." When I asked Grace why she enjoyed watching tv or going to the movies her response was," Mommy, I listen to the words and I use my imagination." As you can imagine I come close to tears every time I think of this and I came close while we were at Beauty and the Beast. My little girl looked up at the screen with her glasses and 3D pair on top and said, "Wow! It's all so clear and so close!" My husband I sat with our girls and my sister in a row. Every so often we'd turn and pass a loving grin in one another's direction. Disney has a new meaning for me.
Tonight I sit and although exhausted after a hectic Monday I can think of nothing but how lucky I am. Lucky to have my family, blessed to have my husband, grateful that we have such strong and wonderful girls. Remember, in life it's the little things that count the most. I don't want to sound "preachie." I'm simply grateful and happy. Time to take a deep breath, stretch and head to bed. Hopefully I'll still feel this way tomorrow....-Fingers crossed!
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