Dancing with Baloo

As I've previously confessed, since becoming a mother, I have developed a strangely sentimental side. While I used to quickly change the channel whenever a sappy song came on the radio, now some of them really speak to me. One of those is the latest song by Steven Curtis Chapman called "Cinderella". Here are the beginning lyrics to the song:

She spins and she sways
To whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting here wearing
The weight of the world on my shoulders

It's been a long day
And there's still work to do
She's pulling at me
Saying "Dad, I need you

There's a ball at the castle
And I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...

You can hear the song at this link:

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/thismoment.htm

Now, if this song had been written about Baloo the Bear (and Mommy instead of Daddy), it could have been about me and Elizabeth. Whenever I come home from work, I try to make it a point for that time to be Elizabeth's. No matter how tired I am, it's still a rush to see her get excited that Mommy's home, and grab my hand to pull me wherever she wants to go to start playing. Last night, as we were pretending to be Baloo and Mowgli and dancing around the living room, this song popped into my head. (Ironically, she was also wearing her Cinderella t-shirt.)

It's nice to have little reminders that the time I have with her is so fleeting. I know there will soon come a day when Mommy and Daddy won't be her favorite playmates. I often think that she's almost 3, which means 1/6 of our time with her here at home is almost gone. (Yes, I'm a math geek.) If the remaining 5/6 of the time goes by so quickly, it will be gone before I know it.

And when that day comes, at least I'll have embarrassing videos to harass her with, like this bathtub video of her singing "Bare Necessities":