The show will go on...

Tonight is Lauryn's dance recital. We've been working toward this day since September. It has been a looooong year in dance. I was confident that she would adore going to dance and come home after every class and show off what she learned.

Then she would continue to practice on her own throughout the week, working on her leaps and foot positions.

And about a month after we started dance she said, "Can I take gymnastics now?"

So clearly, this entire gig is pretty much all about the costume. Now THAT is something she has been talking about for months. She can't wait to wear her costume and dance on stage. I have to be honest, I am just as excited.

Her costume is so adorable. It is a gorgeous color and looks adorable on. It also came with a pretty tiara.

Which, in our case, became a missing tiara.

We had it for pictures back in April. They gave them back to us at that time to take home and put in a safe place.

Apparently I missed the part about the safe place.

Tuesday morning I had a moment. The kind where you sit straight up and get a knot in your stomach and realize that something is wrong. I don't know why I thought to get her entire costume out and ready for Friday, but as soon as I thought about it I realized that I had no clue where her tiara was.

Misplacing things isn't really a new concept for me. Neither is forgetting things. If I can remember my own name in 20 years I will consider it a great achievement.

I like blame it on having two children (specifically newborns). You can not endure months upon months of severe sleep deprivation without it having some sort of permanent effect on your brain.

Before you know it, you're losing tiaras, forgetting where you left your keys, and putting away lunch meat in the Tupperware cabinet.

It only happened once, but you can bet I will be haunted by that moment for the rest of my life.

So I'm not surprised that I couldn't remember what "safe place" I put it in. I emailed the dance director and, long story short, realized that I was pretty much on my own.

I tore this house apart. Looked in every closet. Every drawer. Even under the couch (note to self, don't ever do that again.) The thing was gone.

I could already see it. 20 years from now she will be sitting on a couch telling her therapist that it all started when she was 4 years old, standing in the front row on stage at her first recital, the ONLY dancer without a tiara.

I called my poor husband in a panic, near tears, telling him that the tiara was gone forever and what were we going to do and she would be so upset when she found out.

Another long story short, he talked me through the basics. You know, simple things like looking at the tag on her costume to get the name of the company and contacting them about getting a new tiara.

Oh.

So, as he has done repeatedly over the 9 wonderful years (this month!) since I married him, he came to my rescue. He searched for the company online, contacted the company, ordered the tiara, gave them the 3 day deadline, and arranged to have it shipped and delivered before Friday.

And here is what the UPS man brought to our house yesterday afternoon.



And here is what made me jump up and down with delight and finally take a breath after holding it for the past 2 days:



Thanks to the greatest Daddy in the world, she will have her tiara for the recital tonight.

I will definitely be sure to post some pictures sometime this weekend!