Princess Fashion...

I quietly opened the door to rouse my four year old, so I could get her ready to go to the sitter's. There she was, lying on her bed, halfway between sleep and arousal, stretching like a house cat after a long afternoon nap.

"I'm not ready to get up yet. I need some more sleep," she whined lazily, as she pulled the covers up over her eyes.

So I told her she could have a few more minutes. I pulled her door closed and went to finish getting ready. A few minutes later as I was turning off the hair dryer, I heard her door click open. I tiptoed to the bathroom door and peeked out in the hallway to tell her good morning. The sight I saw before me was priceless. My sweet little four year old had taken it upon herself to get dressed for her day.

She had started off with a light pink short sleeved tshirt with embroidered butterflies on the front. Along with that she was wearing a pair of hot pink cotton capris that came just past her knees. They had a dainty little ruffle around the bottom of the legs. So far, a pretty normal outfit. What she decided to pair with that shirt and capris is what makes this story, in my mind, worth gold.

In her room Jenna has a dress up box. It contains a variety of things..... Disney princess dresses, bracelets, hats, makeup, etc. Included in those princess clothes is a 2 piece Snow White costume that she'd gotten a few months ago at ToysRUs for her birthday. Today Jenna had chosen to add the bright yellow silky princess skirt to her ensemble described above. She put it on over her capris and it was just short enough that the bright pink ruffled legs peeked out from under the yellow like the beginning of a sunrise. On her right foot, she had on one of her plastic Cinderella glass slippers from last year's Halloween costume. The second slipper was missing so on the other foot she had a Snow White sandal that matched her bright yellow skirt perfectly. In her hand was a cheap sparkly dollar store princess tiara she had gotten several months ago at a birthday party.

My first reaction was to think ok, we need to go change her outfit.... and now I am probably going to be late for my class. Thankfully, that first reaction lasted less than a second. The reaction that popped into my head next was, "oh my, what a little princess I have been blessed with." So what if she doesn't necessarily look like a princess today. In her mind, she did. And THAT was the important thing.

"Mommy, can you put my hair up?!" she asked.

So in between stifling my uncontrollable giggles at the sight before me, I took her hand and we went into my bathroom. I gathered her hair into a simple ponytail and then tenderly placed the tiara atop her golden tresses... as if I were crowning a royal princess. I could almost hear the coronation music in the background. The finishing touch was the application of strawberry shortcake lip gloss that she had gotten for her birthday.

"I want orange," she demanded in her adorable high pitched voice. So, I stuck the makeup wand in the sticky orange goop and spread it on her soft pink lips, all the while telling her how beautiful she was.

We headed downstairs a few minutes later to get ready to leave. It took her a little longer than normal as the shoes she was wearing were not the easiest to walk in. But, taking one step at a time, she managed. Downstairs, I found my camera and, wanting to capture this moment, asked her if I could take her picture. She happily said yes and put on her best smile. Click. Of course, she wanted to see it right away. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I found the picture and showed it to her.

"But Mom, you can't see my crown!"

I assured her that her crown was showing up just fine and my word was good enough for her. A few minutes later, we were out the door and on our way.

**edited to add the picture... **