as we were getting ready for bed tonight, i noticed that lila seemed a little stressed. she could not find the right nightgown (which happens nightly, yet tonight seemed different).she was upset that she owned three mermaid nightgowns and all three were missing. any one would do but the white one was the one she really wanted. somehow i turned around and there it was. "thank you so much" she said "because tonight is the night". "the night?" i asked and she said "yes, the night the mermaids come out. they come out of the water tonight and go onto the beaches. they do this only once a week on mother's day . (one of my favorite things about lila is how unconnected to reality and time she is ). they get feet and they party. they party for the mothers and they party the same way we do for our mothers. that is why i needed this nightgown. tonight's the night." then as we all snuggled in bed, which is rare since ben's arrival, i had a few minutes after laying him down to really cuddle with her. she was so happy. she whispered in my ear that maybe in the middle of the night, if we woke up, we could sneak out of bed and see the magic. see the mermaids coming out of the ocean and see their mother's day party. she reminded me though that if we didn't it would be ok beacuse they party exactly as we do. i could feel the excitement in her voice and we took some time to lay and think about it. all curled up in the quiet of our bed.
