The Fanciest of Valentine's Days

It has finally arrived: a moment I have waited long for -- Mia and Maggie are beginning to appreciate the finer things in life.

Growing up, I always enjoyed the little things that my mom did to make the holidays special: gifts and notes by your dinner plate for Valentines, rainbow jello for Saint Patrick's Day, soup with jack-o-lantern faces for Halloween. I have been excited to create our own traditions to mark the holidays, even more minor ones. But, until recently it often felt like my efforts were wasted amid the chaos of having little children. The food was largely left on the plates, the presents turned into an argument when someone didn't want to share, and Jeffrey and I spent entire meals unable to have a conversation, up and down, cleaning up messes and resolving issues the whole time.

So, when we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day this year with a family dinner at home (since Jeffrey and I went to a party and left the kids the night before), my expectations were not too high. But, when I told Mia and Maggie we were going to have a "fancy, fancy" (which is a favorite phrase in our house since Maggie loves the books about "Fancy Nancy," but calls her "Fancy Fancy") dinner for Valentine's they were ecstatic. They asked if they could wear their fancy gowns. I told them yes, fancy dress was mandatory. Then, they asked if they could have a "fancy dress ball" after dinner. This seemed to be a no-brainer, of course, we would need to have a ball.

Mia helped me set the table with our best China. She carried up red and pink candles, and we lit them so we could dine by candlelight. Mia was especially impressed with my silver salt and pepper shakers, which caused her to exclaim, "Oh mom, they are just what a king and queen would use!" I could not talk her out of using all my tiered pewter platters, so she came up with a last minute appetizer (pita chips with Greek yogurt) all on her own and set it out so we could also use the smaller trays.

Mia took drink orders, poured the sparkling juices into the goblets, served everyone's plates, and waited on us during the meal. Mia and Maggie were insistent that we turn out all the lights in the house and use only the candles -- thank goodness I found so many red and pink ones!

Everyone dressed up. Jeffrey donned a sports coat with a large silk rose and a yellow lei. I had a princess crown, and Mia and Maggie dressed themselves. We all looked fancy, fancy.

But, the best part of the evening was that the girls sat at the table -- Mia even enjoyed the chicken cordon bleu, asparagus, rice and salad while Maggie only ate pita chips -- and enjoyed it.

We took turns talking about the different things that we loved about each member of our family. Mia rushed through the first time, just saying, "I love everyone," but then after we talked about everyone individually, she said she needed another turn. It was so sweet to hear my daughters express so much love for each other. It was one of the first meals I can think of where we all just sat, visited, and enjoyed one another's company.

Then, it was time for the "ball." Since Jeffrey is the only male in the house, he had a lot of dancing to do. Even, Elsie Jane got a dance with dad! The girls loved it. Mia had to show Jeffrey just how she wanted him to put his hand on her waist so she could hold up her dress while they danced.

To cap the evening off, at Mia's direction and insistence, Jeffrey knelt on one knee to present her with the gift we had bought for her. (We picked up two little compact mirrors with jeweled butterflies on them for $5.00 at TJ Maxx, it was just the right type of fancy, fancy gift for our party.) Mia and Maggie were quite impressed, and Mia said she was certain they cost about "one hundred million dollars."

The effects of last night's festivities must have still been in effect today, because on the way to church Maggie asked me, "Mom, can I change my name?" "To what," I queried. "Cinderella."

I suspect that even Cinderella could not have had a better time with her prince than Mia and Maggie had at their fancy, fancy dinner and ball.