Little Royalty

Mei Li is betrothed.  No, not to S, but to J.  J goes to our church and his mother, Marci, is my visiting teacher and my dear friend.  Although it's much too early for marriage talk, I admit that I'm secretly hopeful that this union will come to pass (at the appropriate time and place).  

Mei Li confessed once that when she and J were sitting next to each other, watching the fourth graders perform a dancing scene in their play, it made her want to talk about marriage.  (Oh help me.) 

On Fridays, I watch J and send him on the bus with Mei.   One Friday, on their way out the door to go to the bus stop, J turned to Mei Li and said, "My mom told me that I need to treat you like a princess." He said it with a look of earnestness and duty.  My heart melted.  I wished Marci was there so I could hug her and thank her for teaching her boys from a young age how to treat girls with respect.  

This experience impacted me so much that I started telling my children to treat each other like princesses and prince.  Whenever there is any conflict, I remind them.  Somehow, without any additional explanation, they know just how to alter their behavior to reflect love and respect for each other.  I hope they'll always remember how to do this, but my reminders alone won't be enough.

When I became a mother, I realized that the best thing I ever did for my children was to marry Steve.  Mei Li will feel her whole life what it is like to be treated like a princess from her father, and Stephen will have a wonderful example of what a real man should be like-kind, gentle, faithful, humble, and selfless.  My children think I love Steve a million kazillion drillion, which is a lot, but not quite enough to describe how deeply I love and respect him.

The beginning of this video made me cry.  I hope my children will understand, recognize, respect, and seek the kind of beauty Sister Dalton talks about in this video.