Just Wear A Tiara.



It's the piece of advice every young professional has heard: "Dress for the job you WANT, Not the Job You HAVE."

Many of us start living this mantra very early on.  For instance my daughter wears princess dresses and crowns around our home consistently.  Sometimes even to bed.  My son -- when he is not running around naked -- can be found in his fireman's uniform.  Actually, even when he is naked he wears the hat and boots (so he either wants to be a fireman or a stripper in fireman costume).

Last night was a typical evening in our house.  I was rushing to make dinner with baby Caroline on my hip.  Charlotte was playing in the family room -- dressed as a princess -- and lining all her dolls up so she could read to them (teachers also wear tiaras in her world).  I was not sure where Nathaniel was but had accepted that he was likely getting in to something he shouldn't be.

Just as I begin to put dinner on the table something wonderful happens.  The baby throws up all over me.  And, at that exact moment the four year old boy wearing nothing but fireman rain boots comes in to the dining room and says "I need help wiping."

Really?  This is not what my dinner hour was supposed to look like.  Poop and puke?  At the same time?

As I struggle to take care of all the grossness, I shake my head and say "this is not how it was supposed to be."

Afterall, when you picture how your life is going to be when you have a family the house is always clean. Your kids look like the Kennedy clan in all those old photos. And, your healthy dinner is consumed by a family who stays in their seats and has wonderful conversations about their day and their hopes and dreams.

This is NOT how it was supposed to be.

Charlotte stops her playing and says to me "Mom, this is not how what was supposed to be?"

I look up and laugh and explain that no little girl says "I want to clean up puke and poop during dinner when I grow up!" I tell her I was supposed to be a princess like her!

She laughs and asks me why I didn't marry a prince. I explain that you have to marry who you fall in love with and not who you think can make you fancy. But even though I am not a princess I am actually very happy with my choice.  Minus the gross puke and poop.

She hands me her tiara and says, "you can wear this to dinner tonight."

And I did.  I think I will wear it every night:)