Who cured cooties? And how did I miss that memo?
Within the first week of Kindergarten my boy came home with his first crush. I thought I had a couple years ahead of me before THAT would happen.
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My sons class was going to Disney on Ice for a field trip and I felt pretty lucky to be chosen as a chaperone. The kinder classes piled on the buses and we headed for Minneapolis to see the ice show. Last time, I chaperoned I happened to sit behind an “in your face” kind of girl. She was I.N.T.E.N.S.E. and a little bit of an energy sucker. She turned around in her seat and wouldn’t stop touching my face and getting in my personal bubble. Although this girl wasn’t sitting by me THIS trip her clone was. Why Minneapolis, do you have to be so far away?
The teachers told me that she’s a handful and they stuck her with me on purpose because my little man and his friend are laid back, they thought it would even things out…
I survived the bus ride. Barely.
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The chaperoning was a mild nightmare. Although I was paired and responsible for only 3 kids it felt like I was responsible for 300 in the sea of kids at the Target Center. It seemed like every kindergartner in the state was in Minneapolis that Thursday and I was terrified I would loose one of mine.
The bathroom breaks were the worst. Our class would be in a line and other parents or kids would cut through our line making our kids get lost in the shuffle of humans. I’ve never wanted to leash kids so bad. I’m glad I’ve been in Bash’s class quite a bit and knew which kids were ours. Some of the other chaperones were not that lucky.
I loved the show. The energy the performers and host had was amazing. They went through all of the holidays which was great since it coincided with a study unit the school was doing. Above all, there was a GREAT message that surprised the hell out of me.
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I grew up on Disney Princesses, and some of the BEST ones I might add! Ariel was by far my most favorite, Belle & Jasmine are a close second with Cinderella taking 3rd.
My parents have a small hobby farm and when I would have to go feed the chickens I would throw the food to them just like Belle did singing the same song she did. Every. Single. Day. When we would go swimming in a pool, I would push myself up on the sides just like Ariel did and I would pretend I was a mermaid. Our family cat Buzz would dub as Rajah – although he didn’t like it much.
I wanted to be a princess SO bad.
I was just waiting for my prince to rescue me and take me away to our castle.
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The show had all of the princesses and their princes. I felt eight again. To this day, I still know each song, word for word. If THAT isn’t great song writing…I don’t know what is.
About midway through Minnie wanting to find her prince, the Fairy Godmother said something that was a show stopper for me. She said in order to find true love, you must love yourself first.
Show. Stopper.
Finally I feel like Disney has figured it out. They are giving the kids good advice! Having a prince sure, but LOVING YOURSELF, YES!!
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As the bus pulled away from the venue, my little man’s crush, peeped over the seat. She’s such a delicate little girl who dressed up for the occasion. She told me how Bash is scared of her and always runs away from her. I almost spilled his, “he likes you” secret when his hands shot out over my mouth. The two of them spent the remaining 20 minutes of the bus ride flirting with each other. She played with his hair, while he pretended to be a cat, loving the attention…it cracked her up and made my heart grow.
Her laugh is adorable.
While I’m not ready for my prince to find his princess, I’m glad I was there to witness it.
Much love, light & peace,
Jes xoxo
PS. A special thanks to Disney for telling the youngsters that First Love Yourself is important. F.L.Y. little ones!