Atlanta Wedding Sitters

This holiday season is off to a super busy start! Cameryn, my 8 year old daughter, and I braved the cold and headed to the North Carolina mountains for the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad’s Polar Express Train Ride. Bryson City, NC is approximately 3 hours north of Atlanta. Cameryn and I opted for the First Class train ride which would cost a family of four about $200. Our ride started with a song and hot cocoa being served in our souvenier mugs along with some snacks and a marshmallow treat. As we continued our ride to the North Pole, we listened to The Polar Express being read as we followed along in our book. The journey is mostly people’s homes decorated for Christmas and Santa was on his sleigh greeting us as we arrived. Cameryn wasn’t impressed with Santa’s fake reindeer so I started thinking that she may be a little too old for the ride. Once Santa boarded the train, he began to pass out the bells that looked just like the bell from Santa’s sleigh in the storybook. In the book, only those who believe in the spirit of Christmas can hear the bell ringing. Cameryn shook her bell and it didn’t make much of a sound. I asked her if she believed and she said yes and tried to ring it again. Her face instantly lit up as she heard the sound. As we made our way back to the train station, she slipped her bell into her robe pocket and we participated in the Christmas sing-along. She has been sleeping with the bell every night since. I hope that she never stops believing.

As we returned to Atlanta, we headed to our Princess and the Frog party hosted by my friend Erika. There were about 20 of us on the mother/daughter outing. We started out at California Pizza Kitchen and then walked over to Regal in Atlantic Station. I hadn’t heard much of the discussion surrounding the movie in previous weeks, so I didn’t know what to expect of Disney’s first African-American princess. What I discovered was that I was totally in love with the movie. Tiana didn’t appear to be the typical damsel-in-distress associated with the previous princess movies.  She’s a very strong budding entrepreneur with a lot of determination (something all great entrepreneurs possess!) I loved the fact that she wasn’t looking to be rescued by the Prince and scolded him for his lack of drive and motivation. Moping on your lily pad is not going to get you anywhere.  The message was clear: hard work does pay off but you’ve got to balance it out with a little fun too! Girl power at it’s finest!

We rounded out the weekend with the memorial service of the death of one of Cameryn’s schoolmates. It was a shocking reminder that we don’t know how long we are going to live and the possiblity is still there that we may not see our children grow up to do great things. Cameryn and I were extremely saddened by this shocking news. I realized that at times I am working too much and not savoring the moments as if they may be our last.

Take a lesson from the Princess and the Frog,what you need is not always what you want. Embrace that and your dreams will indeed come true.

Tell a friend!

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• Shara Gaytan posted on April 7, 2010
  I'm delighted! It's refreshing to see someone very knowledgeable about what they do. Keep up the great work and I'll ...