Tiny dancer, meet big ballerinas

Abby may have been a little disappointed to find out she wasn't going to be allowed onstage to dance, but by the time the real ballerinas appeared on the stage and the orchestra filled the theater with strains of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, she had forgotten all about it.

She sat mesmerized through the 45-minute version of The Nutcracker we attended with our homeschool group and was more than a little concerned about the fate of the Mouse King who was dragged off the stage after the opening sword fight.

"It's just a pretend mouse," I explained, noticing how upset she was getting. "He's not really hurt. He's just pretending."

"But she's a real princess, right?" she asked of the Sugar Plum Fairy. "And those are real ballerinas?"

"Yes," I assured her. And all was right with the world.

I'm looking forward to many years of sharing this holiday tradition with my little girl. Seeing this familiar ballet through her eyes makes it that much sweeter.