The Fairy Godmother

We had a very special guest in our home yesterday, someone I never in a million years thought would  be sitting in my living room. After 15 years, I thought I knew almost everything about my husband. I did not, however, know that he went to high school with Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. True story. When he told me several months ago that a high school friend who lives in Tampa wanted to bring her teenage daughter by to ride a horse, he mentioned that she worked at Disney World. We later found out that she is in fact, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, in addition to being a hairstylist for princesses and little girls who visit her shop.
Now everyone knows that other people's lives sound much more interesting than our own, so while my children were sitting at this woman's feet completely entranced by her stories about what princesses and fairies do behind the scenes at Disney World, all the Fairy Godmother's daughter wanted to talk about was what it was like to be a barrel racer and a veterinarian! Like everyone else, I sometimes forget that to people on the outside any job can appear glamorous and fantastic. And no, I didn't burst sweet Katelyn's bubble. Not entirely, anyway. I don't think she was expecting to hear that in order to be a successful veterinarian you had better love people as much as animals. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what you know how to do, if you can't convince the one holding the checkbook to let you do it, Fluffy's still out of luck. Oh, well, at least I got to tell her some of the stuff that no one bothered to tell me. And I resisted the urge to look at her and say, "Don't do it! Go to medical school instead," completely aware that if someone had given me the same advice when I was her age I would  have completely ignored them.
As I sat there watching my girls having their hair put up by Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, I started thinking about our upcoming trip to Disneyland. They were so excited when she told them to close their eyes and make a wish while she placed a tiny tiara on their heads. Even my skeptic, who long ago asked me if the characters at Disney on Ice were just people in costumes, was totally sold on the story about how Tinker Bell shrinks Mrs. Tammy down to her size every day with Pixie Dust so that she can fix her hair!
It was a fun-filled, magical afternoon. My girls got to ask every single question they've ever come up with about a Disney character, and the Fairy Godmother had an answer for all of them! Listening to them talk made me think about how grateful I am that I've fought to preserve their innocence as much as possible. It has always seemed to me that people around them were trying to rush them into becoming little adults. They aren't teens, and they aren't "tweens." They're little girls, who should be able to believe in cartoons, magic, and fairy tales for just a little longer. They have the rest of their lives to learn that life isn't fair, that sometimes dreams turn into nightmares, and that there are people out there who are pure evil. Slow down, my girls! There will be time for nail polish, cell phones, and bikinis MUCH later on! I want to let you be little for as long as you can be, and if that's wrong, then I'm just wrong. Love you guys!