innocence

As most of you know I have been having a very difficult time with my kids growing up.  Sometimes I feel like I am running out of time and very soon they will be gone.

I try not to burden my kids with my desire for them to stay little.  I want them to grow up and be independent...just not yet.  I don't want them to feel like I treat them as if they were babies when they clearly are not.  I don't often hear them say "that's for babies!" like they did when they were younger so I must be doing something right.  The longer they can hold on to the simplicity of childhood the better.

 So today when Ashlyn came home from a friend's house with a new princess dress on I was thrilled!  
Ashlyn has long since grown out of her own princess dresses.  Her dress-up drawer often sits untouched as she moves on to other interests.  Today she was thrilled to have a new princess dress.  She wore it all day long and was even more excited because she had been invited to a friend's birthday tea party and the invite said to dress up in your fanciest dress.  She did not disappoint.

She ran and got her princess instruction book and showed me exactly how she wanted me to style her hair.

She was very happy with the results and quickly got dressed so she could see herself as a princess.

This girl is definitely not afraid to accessorize.

We drove to her party and I told her she looked beautiful.  As I glanced in the rear view mirror I saw her smile her bashful smile. She was happy and she felt beautiful.

When we arrived at the party I saw the other girls walking up to the door.  They were all in regular dresses and for a minute my heart dropped.  Were they going to make fun of Ashlyn for wearing a dress that was too babyish?  Would she feel out of place?  But Ashlyn didn't notice and didn't care that she was dressed differently than the other girls.  She was just happy to be in her dress and feel beautiful.

I think it is sad that our kids are made to grow up too quickly.  If any of you have recently ventured into the girl's clothing section of just about any store you will see why it is hard to keep your child innocent. Most of the clothing in their size looks like it  was made for a teenager.  Call me crazy but I don't think my daughter needs to look like a teenager when she is eight years old.  I have already had to have a conversation with Ashlyn about what is appropriate to wear and what is not.

I am hoping to keep the innocence in my kids as long as possible.  And for now, I think Ashlyn is ok with just being a kid.... as long as she gets to dress up like a princess every now and then.