The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts. 

A teaching friend of mine posted an adorable picture of her son dressed as a cow for his first grade program. I've enjoyed watching her son grow up over the years, and thought about all the wonderful memories they were making. 

I couldn't help but be reminded of my own daughter's first grade program over twenty years ago. She had been sick with a terrible case of the chicken pox. Back then the vaccine was new, and I was hesitant about vaccinating her. It hadn't been determined how long it would work, and I knew that having the chicken pox was much worse as an adult. 

As an elementary school teacher chicken pox was a regular occurance each spring for my students so I wasn't too concerned. Except, I had never been on the parent end of the disease. I felt absolutely horrible for Brittany. She was miserable, and ended up missing seven days of school. The only real relief she got was when I would run the blow dryer on the cool setting over her skin. 

Prior to her outbreak Chuck had been teaching her how to ride her bike. Predictably she had fallen several times, and had a few pretty good scabs on her elbows. So between the scabs and the chicken pox she really looked a mess. 

It was right about then as she was returning to school that the first grade program about Mother Goose was scheduled. I decide that since Brittany already owned a Belle costume from Halloween that all I would have to do was add some red felt hearts, and she could be The Queen of Hearts for the program. 

However,  I hadn't counted on her some what revealing costume showing all the scabs and pock marks. God love her, but she really looked awful. I kept thinking that someone was going to turn us into the authorities for neglect. Now the wonderful thing about being six is that all you can concentrate on is how beautiful your Belle dress is.  So needless to say, Brittany had a blast, and we had one of those parent moments as we watched our baby girl sing her heart out. 

It really does all go by so quickly in retrospect, so my advice to anyone with little ones, both children and grandchildren, is treasure each moment.