Dance with Cinderella

This is such a beautiful song. I first really listened to it making pancakes for the kids one morning, and ever since, Grace reminds me that this is the song that made me cry into the pancakes. And every time I hear it, I tear up at least a bit. This song has made me stop what I'm doing and play with my kids, spend time with them--because this time is so precious. Every day is another day that my children are growing up.

Grace loves to be a princess. She dances her way through life, at the grocery store, in the living room, in her bedroom, in the front yard, in the back yard, at church in the lobby, at church during the music, and even when there isn't any music except that in her heart. It brings me such joy to see the innocence, hope and joy unbridled in her. She wears her ballet shoes everywhere that I allow her, and she selects the most beautiful outfit she can find every day, including red plaid skirts, pink and red flowered shirts, pink tights, and red sparkly shoes, paired with a magnificent white cape. All at the same time.  I love this spirit in her. Her favorite game is "Cinderella." Ever since we moved, I have been her new playmate. She begs me to play Cinderella. I get to be the royal messenger, evil stepmother and handsome prince. She gets to be Cinderella. Her favorite part is dancing with the prince and running away when the clock strikes midnight. (Sometimes, I, as the clock, strike a bit too early for her fancy.) And in the end, when the royal messenger trips on the stepmother's foot (fancy double acting by me, I do declare) and I cry, "Oh, no, my life is ruined. We will never find the beautiful girl, the prince's true love. . . " Cinderella delights in interrupting me wit her favorite line of all time, "No. All is not ruined. You see, I have the other slipper," which she then presents to me. Of course she then marries the prince and I can go back to cleaning the kitchen.

She likes to play Ariel in the pool. I get to be Ursula. And if I'm really lucky, she lets me be King Triton. Eric is played by Daddy. Lucky him!

And in another way, it makes me remember being a little girl, dancing with my daddy at Girl Scouts and playing tickle torture and X Marks the Spot on his back, and then getting married.  We had a lovely moment before the ceremony when it was just us, and he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I just wish Grandma (his mother) was here for this."  Stephen Curtis Chapman really outdid himself with this song, and I love this video with the dancing in the background. I hope it touches your heart the same way it touches mine.