Hot Pink Glitter Pants

Ellie loves her short pink shorts. She has a couple of pairs and wears them day and night, until I manage to wash them. Then it starts over again. There is now a dusting of snow on the ground. But Ellie does not want to accept that winter has come. She loves her shorts. She sets off to walk through the field to Aunt Edith's house wearing her winter coat that hangs down lower than her shorts. She insists, so I say, "Okay, just run really fast so your little legs don't freeze!" But she walks so slowly, staring at the ground so much that she ends up heading in the wrong direction. I shelter myself from the cold in the doorway, hoping to see her arrive safely at my sister's home, (because I'm a responsible mother,) as I watch her bare legs saunter back and forth outside. I call out from my warm shelter, "Go fast, Ellie! Turn around! That way, Ellie!" Finally, she's on the path, heading toward the goal. She looks like a flasher, in a pink hooded coat and ladybug rain boots.

While I was gone shopping yesterday, she had a little accident and got her pink shorts wet. (As she explains it, "I didn't have an accident, Mom, it was an accident!") She wouldn't accept a loaner pair of panties and shorts from my sister. Instead, she waited bare-bummed in the bathroom, and took a nap there, while Edith washed and dried her panties and pink shorts.

So I browsed through the toddler clothes section for some pants Ellie might be happy to wear. And I saw them. Yep. She would definitely want to wear those. I picked up the hot pink glittery stretch-knit pants and put them right back down. They offended my (yes, even MY) sense of style. I just couldn't do it. They were too horrible. I handled an indigo pair for a while. They glittered, too. But weren't quite so bad. They didn't shout leg warmers and roller skates. But I doubted Ellie would deem them acceptable. Ellie has pants, after all. She just doesn't think they are beautiful enough to wear. On the other side of the display, I saw the pink glitter pants again. They were labeled 3T. Maybe from a distance they wouldn't look so bad. She's not in public too often, anyway. There is snow on the ground. I do think she would wear them. She's really got to stop wearing those shorts. I bought them.

At bedtime, Mike was telling his 'magination story to the girls. Something about igloos. I stuffed the pants into the back of my jeans and covered them up with my shirt. Then I told a wondrous story about a girl named Chlellie.

Chlellie lived in a land of snow. And she didn't have any warm long pants. And also, none of her pants were magic. But she found a pink sparkly key that went to a pink sparkly treasure box that was buried in the snow. And of course, when she turned the key, pink sparkles flew into the sky, the lid opened all by itself and a beautiful pair of pink glittery pants floated up into the air. Chlellie took the pants and put them on. They were a perfect fit! And they kept her warm all winter long.

And then, magically, I produced a pair of hot pink glitter pants from the back of my shirt. There was a gasp of delight. And Chloe jumped up and tried to put them on. She has been promised a trip to the store.

After prayers, I tucked Ellie in and whispered, "Good night sweetheart, I love you." She responded, "Those pants are so beautiful."

When there was a little accident in the middle of the night, and after I had assured her that 4:30 was not a time for washing pink shorts, she asked for her pink glitter pants. How sweet and sparkly is my success.