06 February 2012

Unconventional Tea

She, my one daughter amidst four true boys, captivates me.


I learn about girlhood from her...and still, it's a mystery.

How her eyes can sparkle and leap like a trout jumping in a sunlit brook.  How she can turn her head a certain way and her pink cheeks and soft hair make her beauty more breathtaking than a snowy Mount Hood on a clear day.  Yet in a moment it can all be over and a dark cloud has filled the room, leaving the rest of us to wonder how it got there without us noticing.


I took her to tea.  We were on a family holiday.  From an example set by a friend (I have very little natural intuition into what a girl needs), I decided just she and I should go to tea.

The tea house in the city near where we were staying was closed for the month of January.  But there was a small store nearby with a wooden sign shaped as a tea pot that looked promising.  A sign in the window boasted $2.00 for a cup of tea.  It also advertised books.

The boys dropped us off and went to look for sea lions.  We admired the tea pots, cups, and other pretties. I then asked the man of the store if we could get a cup of tea....this seemed reasonable since they advertised tea.  The other half was books, of course.

He told me the woman who made tea was out and would I just feel free to go make it myself?  So my little daughter and I went into the kitchen and attempted to make our own tea.

The dishes were dusty and musty so we washed our tea cups.

While we waited for it to steep we had fun trying on old masks.


I was terrified of dropping or breaking something, but I pretended to be confident.  The man came to see how we were doing and offered us a handful of chocolate covered raisins out of a plastic jug to go with our tea.  He took a handful of animal crackers for himself.

I carefully carried our tea through the kitchen doors and out to a sitting area.  Noelle loved her tea.


We drank and talked and looked at books.  It was quiet and cozy and weird.

When the boys came to pick us up, they each had a gigantic, colorful, swirly lollipop.

At least the lady next door in the glass shop had given me a to-go cup so the princess had something sweet and yummy to hold, too.

I'm trying to provide ladylike experiences.

They never quite turn out like I hope!