Karly Says the Darndest Things...

After watching a segment of Dancing with the Stars this week, Karly took my hands and decided to practice some dance moves. We twirled, dipped, kicked, and spun across our makeshift dance floor. She giggled with every turn, and we tried a new move—the flare. Holding hands, we stretched our free arms out and pointed our toes. Karly decided she liked to flare so we did it over and over (and over again).

The next day, Karly decided she wanted to play Cinderella. I was honored with the starring role, and once she got into character as the “mean mudder,” Karly pretended to rip my beautiful dress. I sobbed about missing the ball, but I didn’t have to cry for long. With the flick of her wand, I suddenly had a new dress to go to the grand ball where she evolved from the Fairy Godmother to Prince Charming and danced with me around the living room. We twirled and dipped and even kicked a little and in my enthusiasm, I shouted, “Let’s flare!”

Karly stopped dancing. She stepped back, crossed her arms, and glared up at me with a silent reprimand. Then she leaned in and with her three-going-on-twenty-three voice said: “Mommy, Cinderella does NOT flare!”

What was I thinking? Of course, Cinderella would never, ever flare….