BOAT TRIP. Princess Lisa.

Do you recall that for the first couple decades of your life adults were endlessly asking you what you wanted to be when you grew up? It was usually right after asking you how old you were, or remarking on your increased height, but before asking about your favorite teacher. Do you even remember the answers? I had many - from policeman and nurse to history teacher and astronaut. As a kid all these things seemed like choices at an ice cream shop to be made on a whim. Only as you grew older did the realities behind each became more and more readily apparent. You made choices. Took different paths. What you wanted to be when you grew up started narrowing down until you looked around one day and thought, well I'll be darned - I guess this is what I "am". The narrowing isn't necessarily a bad thing just another piece of getting older. And while there have been times where that moment of assessment left me breathless with panic - second guessing all those choices and turns, most days I think "hey, you haven't done half bad."

All of this to leads me to little 5-year old Maia. Maia sat, with two wet pig tails, one each side of her head, while we took a break from swimming in the lake.  We were sitting on a long bench seat having deli meat sandwiches in a friend's boat.  I asked her how she was enjoying her day - her parents had informed me it was her very first time on a boat.  She answered that she was having a wonderful time had decided to become a mermaid.  Given her enjoyment of the water, that made perfect sense to me.  I told her that I thought she would be a very pretty mermaid.  There was a lull in the conversation as we went back to our sandwiches then she asked in her little voice, in a matter of fact manner, what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I have spent time with my share of younger kids through the years, and they ask lots of questions, but in my experience they tend to be "why" questions rather than "get to know you" questions. So it caught me completely off guard. Usually the adult in the conversation would push it forward, but I found myself just grinning and saying "you know - I'm not really sure. That's a really great question." I had been caught by the purity of the question, the innocence of the intent. She didn't want to know what I wanted to do she was interested in who I wanted to be. And that really was a great question - and one I hadn't considered in quite some time.

I didn't answer quickly enough for her and she threw out a suggestion, "a princess?" she offered sagely. Who was I to argue with a girl wise beyond her years?  I agreed wholeheartedly and gave her a high five for such a brilliant suggestion.

The last time anyone referred to me as "Princess Lisa" in any sort of complimentary way was when I was only 8 years old. According to my best friend of nearly 30 years they were spoken to me by a classroom mom helping our class with Halloween parade preparations in 3rd grade. In those days my best friend  was less of a fan and overhearing these words used to describe me still forces her eyes to roll during a retelling of the story today.

Back in the boat, a few decades past my 3rd grade Halloween costume, I was clearly a candidate in Maia's eyes for princessship and she got down to defining my role - asking me which princess I would be? Now even when I was young - besides my awe over their tiaras - I was never much into princesses. I tended to believe that fairies and ballerinas had way cooler outfits, so when it came to putting myself into a princess category I was at a loss. Maia jumped in with another suggestion, "Rapunzel?" Always agreeable, I relented. Indeed Rapunzel seemed a good fit - as I'd been meaning to grow out my hair.

It was clear, even to this 5 year old, that I needed some career counseling - being the next Rapunzel wasn't going to be any walk in the park. The first issue was my hair - it wasn't nearly long enough. I was informed that the only way to grow it was to sing. The radio was on so I sang my heart out only to be met with the rolling eyes of Maia's older sister, who at 9 years old knew that I was no Rapunzel and wasn't going to get anywhere with that voice. She cut me off and informed me that I couldn't just sing to any old song, that accelerated hair growth in fact required a special song. Noticeably exasperated with my ignorance she added that my hair would also need to be magic ... it was all in the movie. "Haven't you SEEN the movie? It's been out for like a MILLION years." I admitted I had not seen the movie and felt like I was being admonished for having a poor attitude. How could I expect to be a princess like Rapunzel if I hadn't even bothered to see the movie? She had a point.

I had failed the first item on the list and I turned back to Maia for some additional pointers. I also would need to get myself a pink and purple dress. Check. I'm sure I could find one somewhere, I mean this wasn't Never Never Land, they have the internet here - Amazon.com would certainly have some adult sized princess dresses available for sale perhaps even with free shipping. Third, I would need a mother. I clapped and said that I had one of those, she just wasn't on the boat with us. Maia looked rather doubtful and reminded me on a few occasions that I needed to have a mother in order for this to work. I'm sure Mom is up for it - just have to get her a list of her duties. Fourth, I needed a prince. I asked if she knew of only princes because I'd been looking for a really long time and I sure couldn't find one. She giggled hysterically and said there are no princes here only DADDIES! Well there you have it.

Pushing the point I told her that if she did happen to come across a prince she should send him my way - at which point she threw in another caveat ... the Prince was named Eugene. Eugene? I'm supposed to find a Prince named Eugene? Now I don't know about A Land Far Away but there aren't many princes named Eugene wandering the streets these days - at least not in my neighborhood. Clearly I have my work cut out for me, but I guess it's good to have goals.