Can you feel the love tonight?

Well, we're rethinking the whole surprise thing now. Holiday surprise #1 was dinner at a fancy restaurant (Italian Village ... not actually as fancy as we remembered) and tickets to The Lion King. Molly was pretty excited when she found out what we were doing. She loved dinner and the first half of the musical. But then when she didn't get a snack at intermission (lines were too long), she started pouting and practically ruined the night.

It didn't help that the show was long -- over 2 hours -- and she was already tired from the weekend. Jason and I also had high expectations for the night. WE were excited, so it just added to our disappointment when Molly started acting like a ... spoiled only child. She earned herself a lecture on the ride home, which ended in tears, and was still kind of out of sorts this morning during breakfast.

I think we're back on track now. We're enforcing a "no treats, no videos" rule until the drive to Florida. She seems to have snapped out of her bad mood and we've been doing a lot of talking about making people feel good, being grateful, and dealing with disappointment. Tough lessons for an only child who doesn't often have to share.

She's still a sweet girl ... and she's still probably going to get all of her Christmas gifts (I seriously thought about returning the Barbie camper van though!). But we're rethinking the whole Disney surprise. We're still planning to go, but think we're going to tell her about it ahead of time. I think it might be better for all of us if she has time to think about what's coming and knows that she has to act the right way to earn it!!

The night started out well

Being fancy at a fancy restaurant

Excited for the show

NOT happy that she didn't get a snack during intermission

Even though Molly spent the second act pouting, I still thoroughly enjoyed the show! The costumes were amazing and the dancing was wonderful. I highly recommend going ... just leave your sulky five-year-old at home!!