(Listening to P.M. Dawn – I’d Die Without You)

We get out of the car and Littles says to the little girl getting out of the car next to us, “You look really beautiful.”  That’s who Littles is.  She has such a kind heart and I couldn’t be more proud of her.  Forget the show we saw that night, forget the fun time we had; Littles telling another little girl she looked beautiful is what I’ll remember from that night.

The reason why Littles said that?  The little girl next to us was decked out in her Ariel dress because we were going to “The Little Mermaid” at the Pace Center in Parker, CO.  Instead of her Ariel dress, Littles opted to wear her mermaid jammies since it was going to be a late night and she wanted to be cozy.  Yeah, she’s like her mom and thinks ahead and plans; however, when we got out of the car and she saw that girl, I could see it on her face, “Oh man, I wished I had worn my dress! She looks so nice.”  Instead of complaining or being jealous, she decided to tell that girl she looked beautiful and I thought, “That’s my sweet girl.”

Littles loves music and she loves her movies, so when the wife told me there was a production of “The Little Mermaid” going on in nearby Parker, my response was, “Get the tickets.  She’s going to lose her mind!”  Plus, it was just going to be the three of us; little sister would have to stay home because she would have found a way to run up on the stage because, well, that’s what little sister does right now.  And, Littles enjoys the private “mommy/daddy time.”

We got to the theater, grabbed some snacks, and took our seats.  Watching Littles watch a musical is almost more entertaining than watching the musical.  Her mind in basically in a state of continuous blown for three straight hours.  Not a moo, not a clack, not a peep.  She sits there, completely still, her eyes the size of silver dollars.  It’s like watching someone watch someone else defuse a bomb.  It’s incredible to watch her process what’s going on.  If I could read her mind it might go something like this, “Okay, they look real.  They are real people.  If they’re real people, then that’s a real Ariel.  So is Ariel real?  She’s real!!!  But wait, she’s not real when I watch her on TV, so is she real, or is this real Ariel real? Aggherherhshdfshdf!  I don’t care, this is great!”  I think she realizes that Ariel isn’t really real, but the production is so huge and so visually stimulating that for 3 hours, reality goes out the window.  Amazing.

The show was excellent.  The acting was great, the singing was great, and Littles loved it; then the real fun began.  She actually got to meet the cast!  They were all there, Ariel, Prince Eric, King Triton, Flounder, everyone…and she couldn’t wait to meet them.  She was all smiles from ear to ear, and the cast was very gracious, taking pictures with all of those who wanted to.

It was time to leave, so we jumped in the Pilot and headed home.  Littles told us how much she liked the show and was telling us how much fun it was to meet everyone, and then the back seat suddenly got very quiet.  It was way past bedtime and the high was over.  Reality set back in and Littles crashed.

It’s nights like this when it’s fun to know Littles is at the age where she’ll start remembering things.  When I think about the wife and I taking Littles to this show, it reminds me when I was about her age and my sister was in a production of “Annie.”  I remember going to watch rehearsals and going to the show.  It’s one of my earlier childhood memories and looking back, it probably had a huge influence on the direction of my life.  I was very involved in music and drama in school and I wonder if Littles will have similar interests because of her early memories.  She already loves to sing and dance, and is very interested in music.  I hope so, because I think she’d be great at it; but if not, I already know I’m proud of her.  When you told that girl she looked beautiful, you were beautiful, because you were so kind.  And that’s what I’ll remember from this night,   along with the fun we had.

Love you, Littles.