Once upon a time......

Once upon a time, during a Mardi Gras many moons ago, when my darling daughter "A" was in Brownies, her troop joined with several other troops to parade on a bright, sunny, chilly Saturday.

For months they planned, built floats, constructed costumes, gathered beads and throws, giggled, gossiped, wiggled, dreamed, and basically -- drove us parents crazy. By parade day they were READY to get it on! -- or so they thought.

Somewhere along the way, this parade had taken on a life of its own. The original parade route had been changed to another neighborhood -- one of the largest in the city. Several other groups had joined. Bands had been added! The parade we ended up with was an entirely different animal from the one we started with

And....somewhere along way, we parents the troop leaders had failed to inform our sweet little giggly, wiggly Brownies that they would be riding in a semi-mega parade instead of the family-friendly little parade they were expecting. I do remember A wondering why I was buying beads by the gross....

In the end, the girls were surprised, but not a bit intimidated by the size of the beast/parade. I don't know whose eyes sparkled the brightest -- those throwing the beads or those catching the beads.

That sweet memory came to mind tonight while watching the local news and seeing all the children parading in their school parades.

It took me years to convince my kids that Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the Rose Bowl Parade were legit because -- nobody threw anything.

That's what you get for living in a place that throws a parade at the drop of a hat.