Beauty and the Beast

As I mentioned in the previous post, I won tickets to a play of Beauty and the Beast. The play was put on by a kids/teens drama camp of a local theater group, so the cast was all kids under 18. I wanted to stop by Chick Fil A because I knew the cast would be there, so I thought Emily would enjoy seeing Belle and etc. If she seemed interested, I was going to take her to the play that afternoon. And then we won the prize package!!

We invited some friends to go with us since we had some extra tickets, but it didn't work out on such short notice. So Emily and I just went for a special mommy and daugther date (and I sold the extra tickets when we got there :) )

However things didn't turn out as planned. Emily was very excited and anxious for the play to start when we got there. However after Belle's opening number, Gaston comes out on stage and she suddenly needs to go to the restroom (even though we stopped by on the way to our seats). In the bathroom, she says she is done and ready to go home. She said she didn't want to see Gaston and the Beast fight... and didn't want to hear beast roar....and didn't like their costumes. So after 2 attempts of getting back to our seats and her yelping and crying in fear, I just packed it up and left.

I must admit I got overly emotional about the whole situation. I was upset that our fun outing was a bust. I was upset I didn't get to watch the play (the few minutes we saw were very entertaining). I was overwhelmed by the task of raising a secure, happy, confident girl. I felt like going to meet the characters before should have helped to alleviate any fears. It made me sad that she was too scared to enjoy a story that she loves to have read to her. I want my girls to be happy and secure in who they are and to be proud of who they are. Hopefully with the help of our Heavenly Father, Andy and I will know how to teach our girls these important values and provide experiences where they can learn and grow (and overcome their fears).