07/06/2026
Take the pictures...Remember the magic...
For the last 3 years, our dress-up rack has been overflowing with beautiful gowns. Tiny heels clicked across our floors, and every day seemed to bring different princesses to life. Some mornings she was Cinderella, twirling before breakfast. By afternoon she had become Belle, and at bedtime she was Elsa, singing at the top of her lungs as if she really could make it snow in our house.
Without even realizing it, I can now measure time by our dresses. These dresses have become shorter as she has grown taller. Tiny rips have appeared from countless adventures, enchanted dances and battles with swords. The crowns lose their jewels, the wands disappear beneath the couch, and one by one the costumes have begun to stay on the rack a little longer.
My little princess has started writing a new story—one without so many costumes. It's funny how the phases you think will last forever often end without telling you they're ending. The princess dresses may not always fit her, but I hope she keeps Cinderella's kindness, Belle's curiosity, Moana's courage, and Rapunzel's sense of wonder.
I won’t forget that every day I get to watch magic. Every phase, every love, every time my kids play and create games that incorporate whatever my son likes into the world of princesses and dress up. Their imagination is incredible. I remind myself that as the dressing up begins to fade, the princesses haven't disappeared—they've simply made room for new dreams and new adventures.