Purple Towels And Princesses

A gift certificate to spend, Mary tells us on the way to the library:

"I'm getting princess things so I can wear them to AWANA. I want to be a princess when I grow up and you have to dress like what you want to be."

Peter tries to change her mind, hoping she'll pick something at Toys R Us that all the siblings can enjoy together.

Peter:  "Mary. You can't be a princess. We're not a royal family. "


Mommy:  "We're not a royal family? Oh.  I thought we were. We have purple towels, you know."


Peter, exasperated:  "Mommy!"


Paul:  "Yeah, Mary. There's no such thing as royalty in America. You can't be a princess here."


Mary:  "Yes, I can."


Beth:  "I want a princess dress too!"  


Peter:  "You have to have a father and mother that are King and Queen, to be a princess. We don't have Kings and Queens here."


Mary:  "You guys are hurting my feelings."  


Mommy:  "Mary, when you get married, your husband will think you are his princess. And in God's eyes too; we are all his favorites, like princesses and princes in a way, because He is our King. And of course, you'll always be my little princess.


The van falls quiet for a few minutes. I vow to remember this conversation always, like so many we have in the van. Life is lived in the journey, not the destination.

I love journeying with this bunch.

Peter:  "Well, if she plays princess, can I pretend to be a prince?"

Mommy:  "Sure you can."


My sweet Peter has a foot in both worlds--childhood and adulthood. On the one hand, he thinks more like a grown-up now: if there's no royalty in America, then his sister can't be a princess. But a big part of him still loves fantasy and pretending. He'll come up with some grand scheme for all the siblings to be part of a royal court. They'll have a enchanted time, just as siblings ought to.

He's my imaginative one. I pray when he grows up, he'll be able to slip easily into an enchanted world.


With his own children.


I mourn the loss of play in my own life. I've fallen for adulthood. Fully.

Father, may my children never stop dreaming. May they always feel the possibilities.

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