Ah, my day off!
I went to bed last night feeling like a domestic goddess—having played wife and mother to perfection—and woke up this morning in a Disney movie. It was one of those Disney movies where the downtrodden princess was made anew by the off-center fairy godmother. Of course, I was the fairy godmother for most of the day, but in an unexpected twist, I got to play both parts at different moments throughout the day. My daughter and I took turns.
Just as I had predicted last night, it was a great day.
We tried on wigs and sunglasses at the mall. We used the “I’m not sure if I’m willing to spend that much…let’s look elsewhere” price negotiating play when we were ready to purchase something from a kiosk vendor. We shared Japanese for lunch, had banana milk shakes for desert, and we even got to see an old friend before heading home. There were no temper tantrums, no arguments, just a good old fashioned mother/daughter day.
But what is a good old fashioned Disney movie without the villain?
Today our villain was traffic. We were stuck in the middle of six lanes of seventy mile an hour traffic rushing through the city limits of Atlanta. Perhaps foolishly, and yet with a large dose of faith, I let my sixteen year old drive. She has gained loads of experience in the three months she has been driving, and she managed to navigate the traffic like a pro. She was only mildly nervous, and I dare say, did better than many a seasoned driver out there would have. And like the responsible parent that I am, I didn’t text or talk on my phone while she was driving. I was honestly too nervous to carry on a conversation. We passed the wreckages of two fairly messy collisions on our travels, but we managed to stay more than clear of any trouble.
For almost two hours.
Anyone who would doubt that Atlanta has the worst traffic imaginable has not driven in our fair city before. But because we are accustomed to the traffic, the worst part of the whole journey was trying to find a comfortable temperature in the car. We continued to switch between open windows and air conditioning, depending on the speed of traffic. The outside air was cool, but the sun was very hot, and my air conditioning does not cooperate when the car is standing still. But no matter if it was too hot or too cool, we had a wonderful afternoon.
Once we arrived safely back inside our own zip code we hit a few more shops to satisfy the final items on our prom shopping list. I think we finally have everything. At least I hope we do. The prom is Saturday night, so time is running out.
I almost wish I was going. I never went to my prom, and all this “princess” shopping has me longing to go back and do things over. I want to pick out a beautiful dress and shoes, and I want to have my hair and make-up done and get picked up in a shiny coach to be driven to the ball. I want to dance the night away under the stars and be so caught up in the excitement that I forget to worry about the strike of midnight.
But you can’t be a princess without a charming prince, and I’m lucky enough to say that I found mine. Even if some days he’s more like the frog than the prince, I can honestly say that I don’t mind the warts when they come with the rest of the package.
As for my daughter? I guess she has her prince du jour. He isn’t taking her to prom though. She would rather go with someone who likes to dance and socialize. Her sister. It doesn’t really seem fair that I have to pay for the dress plus the accessories, (for two) AND pay for the tickets. But at least I’ll have two happy teenagers on Saturday night. And what more could any mom ask for?
Until the next time…hi ho, hi ho…it’s back to work I go!