FROZEN ON ICE

Last week, she came downstairs to find a new dress draped across a chair in the living room. A dress with a black bodice and a blue skirt adorned with flowers and a pink cape, a dress worn by Princess Anna of Arendelle that she would wear later in the day as we attended Disney’s Frozen on Ice. Our hall pushed her into our living room where her Elf (Plum) sat with the dolls she begged for and received months ago on either side and the dress in front of him as if he delivered it himself (because he did, of course) and the look on her face was merely foreshadowing the joy it would express in a few hours.

We went on with our day checking various items off our to-do list while she played in anticipation until it was finally time to watch an Ice Queen unleash her magical powers. We arrived to snow flurries courtesy of hidden snow machines tucked into the rafters of the entrance and we knew immediately this was a completely different show than we came to see last year. We made our way through the crowd and found our seats and once we were settled she turned to her mother and me and told us this was the best day ever.

The show started with mention of famous love stories as told by Disney and with every recollection the characters found their way to the ice, couples from tales we know all too well. Ariel and Snow White, Cinderella and Tiana, each princess with her prince appeared and we watched as her face lit up like her best friends all revealed their hiding spots in the best game of hide and seek she’s ever played. Just as quickly as they came, they went and the story that consumed our lives for the last year unfolded in person.

The songs she’s fallen asleep to every night since seeing the movie filled the room with a warm contrast to the chill of the icy powers displayed in front of us. A snowman was built and given a sense of humor. A sisterhood was broken and repaired. An ice castle was constructed from the palms of an emancipated queen. The lyrics to Let It Go surrounded us as every child in attendance, my own included, sang at the top of their toddler ranges in unison while the woman in glittering blue highlighted by a single spotlight twirled and jumped with the same inflections the vocal performance provides.

Her mother and I couldn’t decide which to watch -- the show we bought tickets for or the look on her face, the look of a dream coming true. She squeezed my arm with one hand while pointing with another and my eyes watered without warning, a side effect of fatherhood I’ve now come to expect. This day last week, the day she saw a princess and a queen that oddly feel like household names within our four walls, really did seem like the best day ever. That Olaf may be on to something, maybe true love really is putting someone else before yourself... such is parenting I've discovered.