The Obliging Mama

 I have a very serious job to do in the next couple weeks... a little girl is turning four and oh-so-sweetly asked for a princess dress... not a princess party or princess Halloween costume... which I would have deflected somehow... but just one for going to all her royal balls, ya know, or perhaps running around the house singing like a little bird. I gave in. And then..."can it be pink?"...."No... no... please no... alright. Sure." I have pink fabric... a perfectly ridiculous shade of bubble gum pink that I would have never ordered had I seen it in person. But it screams princess, and she loves it. And it is a nice quality voile. So, I'm doing it. I hope someday she can see what a lucky girl she is to have such an obliging mama. I cleverly made it fun for myself by sneaking in hints of that pretty golden floral above.

Now-a-days, anytime I make clothing for Oona, I have to clear every detail with her, or risk it being thrown into the black hole of unloved clothing. So, first, I drew some quick little dresses to see if any of the styles I had in mind would work. She had initially said she just wanted it to be pink, nothing else, but the pictures helped her to see all the possibilities... and then she had to of course add faces and crowns and little ball hands to them to see exactly how she would look. I think from now on I am always going to use pictures with her. It helps us to agree on things much quicker. If I tried to say it, she would just say, "no, that's not what I want", over and over again until all the creative fun was zapped from it. Now it's just a matter of executing it... fabric/ pattern chosen... modifications agreed upon... time for this seamstress to get to work. Did I mention she's negotiating for both a crown and pointy princess hat. We'll see, my little darlin.

 P.S. I was tickled pink (pun intended) when they asked her in school to draw what she wanted to be when she grew up... she chose "a mama"... and she drew her family just as our family. I'm sure lots of kids have done this before, but it did melt my heart. And considering some of her friends chose such inventive answers as... "a rainbow" and "a monster" I'm surprised she didn't come up with something wilder. But mostly, I'm glad she thinks my job is so cool because she's totally right.

Joining in with KCCO over at Frontier Dreams.