Dancing In The Aisle

Photo courteous of Julie Davis Photography

It was in the middle of a Target aisle.

I was trying clothes on my daughter, in the middle of the store. Yup, I am one of those moms.

It was cute and it fit. It was a dress. I took it off. I wasn't thinking.

When I put it on, I took off her shirt, put on the dress and then took off her jeans. You  know, trying to protect her modesty.

I wasn't thinking.

When I took that dress off, my daughter was left standing in the middle of the aisle with just her big-girl-panties on.

I immediately realized what I had just done and in that same exact moment, so had my daughter.

She loves to be naked!

It is normal to dress my daughter in the morning and a few hours later, to see her with just those big-girl-panties on and pretty shoes.  She always claims to be hot. And, in her defense, she usually is.

But lets call a spade a spade. She also loves not to be dressed. Even though she loves clothes, especially pretty clothes and dresses and dressy shoes. She loves to be naked more.

So that moment when we both realized that she was naked in the middle of Target, I rush to try to get her clothes back on and she takes a few steps away from me and starts . . . dancing.

She also loves to dance. She has some pretty nice rhythm too (especially with me being her mother). She will dance strapped in in her car seat. She dances any time she hears music (its like someone flipped a switch) and a lot of times she dances only to the music playing in her head.

It always brings a smile to my face . . .

. . . But that day in Target, I didn't get embarrassed but the first thought that crossed my mind was, "what do others think of me, letting my daughter dance almost naked in public?"

It didn't matter. It doesn't matter.

My little girl was dancing. She was living in the moment. She was enjoying what was, just like she likes it. Music, a little rhythm and just big-girl-panties.

It made me smile. Smiling to see her so unaware of where she was. So unaware of the others around her. So unaware of what others might think of her. Of the way she looks or doesn't look. Of the way she dances or doesn't dance.

Only aware of the moment and how it moved her. And she didn't resist because of what others might think of her.

When I realized this, it was a bigger moment for me.

There won't be many moments like this for her.

Those moments will soon give way to the moments where she wants to rejoice and enjoy and sing but doesn't because she's too worried of what others may think.

I love that innocence in her. I wish with all that is in me, that it will never leave, but I know that it will.

It will end all too soon.

In a blink.

I want her to enjoy, rejoice and dance the way she feels in her core now, before the world tells her that her way isn't good enough or pretty enough or stylish enough.

I want her to dance when the moment moves her.

And I don't want to be the first one to tell her that it isn't right or she should do it this way or that.

I want to stand far enough away to give her the room she needs but close enough where I can reach out and grab that moment and hold it close.

So, the other day, my daughter was dancing in the middle of a Target aisle with just her big-girl-panties on. Yes, I am one of those moms. And very proud of it.

178. Laughter as the three of us dance in public.

190. Tickles and laughter - those little-girl-giggles I wish I could bottle up.

201. Little girl dancing in the kitchen, while dishes sit in sudsy sink, singing her own song.

232. Little girl dancing . . . always dancing . . . even in the middle of a Target aisle.

Stephanie