Disney on Ice

Is this not the cutest and happiest girl in the entire world at this moment?

I had seen that Disney on Ice was coming to town and I realized that Willa would be the perfect age to be mesmerized by it. We've never taken her to anything like it before, we haven't ever even taken her to a movie! I hemmed and hawed for quite a while because spending money right after Christmas is a huge bummer and we were also getting some of hospital bills from the arm (one egregious bill is currently in dispute and I will update you with the whole story when it has ended). In the end, though, my love for Willa won the battle over my tight-fisted, money hoarding tendencies. 

Ryan and I thought it would be the perfect daddy-daughter date. I was originally going to keep it a surprise, but I ended up showing her some YouTube clips to persuade her to get in the car so we could go get the tickets. She was in love immediately. She was SO excited and I'm so happy we prepped her. It prolonged the whole experience and made it richer for her to be able to talk about and look forward to it.

Ryan felt like it enriched their relationship to do something like this together. That evening she told Ryan "This was a great day." I also think it made her happier for the next several days; the power of one-on-one time and something special just for her. It was a good lesson to me that she needs occasional, special time. Lots of the time I don't do things because I figure that she doesn't know what she is missing, therefore it's not a big deal. I guess it really isn't a huge deal, but it was very nice and very special to her to have such a treat like this.