The ‘Marry’ Dress

In our house, playing ‘dress up’ isn’t limited to Halloween.  It’s a year round activity.  Our kids absolutely love dress ups.  We have an extensive collection, including pink frilly skirts, a turtle shell, fire fighter and safari hats, a pirate patch and hook, a knight helmet, doctor’s apparel… and the list goes on.

 

Charlotte loves putting on skirts and spinning and dancing.  Whenever dance music comes on, she’ll stop and declare, “I need my skirt,” then march off to get it.

 

Her favorite skirt is a pink and yellow one with flowers (which she pulls on over whatever she’s wearing) and a matching headpiece with streamer-like material hanging off it.  She calls it her ‘marry’ dress and often announces that she’s getting married when she’s wearing it.  She’s very excited about the prospect of getting married (I’d like to think it’s because Karen and I make it look so fun) and talks about it frequently

 

The other day when her aunt, uncle, and cousin were visiting, she put on her ‘marry’ dress, began dancing, and proudly told her uncle that she was getting married. 

 

“Who are you marrying?” he asked.  Charlotte was stumped.

 

She then did what she usually does when someone asks her a question and she doesn’t know the answer.  She thought about it, lowered her head, walked over to me, and quietly asked, “Dad, who am I marrying?”

 

Oh, if I only had the power to decide when and whom she would marry.  Then again, what an immense responsibility it would be to choose anyone else’s spouse, particularly my own child’s.

             

I pray that she does find someone worthy of her love (and who loves her in the way she deserves to be loved) and that she does choose to get married (my marriage has brought me so much joy, including my two children.) 

 

And I look forward with great anticipation to her potential wedding.  When we attend weddings, I often daydream about what Charlotte and Luke’s weddings will be like (if they so choose).  My favorite moment is the father-daughter dance.  I won’t deny it, I get very emotional – it makes me think of the moment that Charlotte and I will dance together at her wedding, if she chooses to get married (and chooses to dance with me at her wedding.)   I’ve already given a lot of thought to potential songs.  But that’s another story

 

Lately, she’s been insisting that she’ll marry her brother.  When I informed her that she couldn’t, she replied, “But Dad, I have a ‘marry’ dress.”  She insists she’s getting married because, after all, she does have a “marry” dress.

 

If only life was so simple — if having a ‘marry’ dress meant you were getting married, putting on an eye patch made you a pirate, and wearing a baseball jersey meant you’d play professional baseball.

 

Imagine if it worked that way – if you could become a superhero simply by putting on a cape!

 

The nice thing is, in the eyes of my kids, I feel like I don’t even need a cape.

 

I hope you enjoyed today’s serving of ‘Mac & Cheese.’