A Parable of a Woman and Five Daughters
There was a woman who had five daughters. Each of her daughters loved Disney, so one day the woman surprised her daughters with a day of Disney fantasy. She let each of the girls dress like the Disney princess of her choice, and she took them to Disneyland. This was especially fun, because other people at Disneyland addressed the girls using the names of their characters. For example, “Do you want fries with that, Cinderella?” Also, “Please slide over, Princess Jasmine, to make room for another rider,” and etcetera.
When the woman and her daughters arrived home that evening, each girl ran off in a different direction, continuing to play the character she’d pretended to be all day. Since each of the girls had a smartphone, the mother sent a group text to her daughters, which read, “Please take off your costumes and become my daughters again. When you’ve returned to yourself, join me in the kitchen for strawberry shortcake and milk.”
The twins were the youngest daughters. They were six. They helped each other change out of their costumes quickly and easily. They arrived in the kitchen first, giggling and smiling, excited to eat strawberry shortcake.
The eldest daughter was thirteen. She was excited to get the text that promised strawberry shortcake, but then she became distracted by another group text with friends. It was half an hour before she finally took off her costume and joined her mother and sisters in the kitchen.
The next eldest daughter was eleven. She was dressed as Snow White. This daughter was particularly imaginative. She pretended that her mother, four sisters, the family dog and family cat were the seven dwarfs. She swirled down the hallway toward the kitchen in costume, hoping to have shortcake with the seven dwarfs. Her mother saw her in the hallway in costume and said, “When you are ready, come into the kitchen as my daughter, and you can have strawberry shortcake and milk.”
The next eldest daughter was eight. She was dressed as Sleeping Beauty. When she got home, she ran straight to her bedroom. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, pretending to be Sleeping Beauty, but she fell asleep and did not see her mother’s text. When she did not come into the kitchen, her mother sent the twins to look for her. The twins woke her up and relayed the message about strawberry shortcake in the kitchen. The little girl felt guilty for falling asleep and missing her mother’s text, but when she arrived in the kitchen her mother smiled and said, “It is as it is. Now let’s enjoy strawberry shortcake.”
With all of the daughters in the kitchen, the day of pretending was over. The woman thanked her daughters for changing out of their costumes, told her daughters how much she loved them, and they all enjoyed strawberry shortcake and milk together.
The End.
