Happily Ever After

Yesterday, as Nina and Lyla were having a princess tea party on a princess blanket in Nina's room surrounded by princess books and princess figurines, I wondered how many of our recent purchases have the Disney copyright on them. Probably a lot. Don't get me wrong, we don't purchase a lot of princess stuff for the girls, but Nina loves what we do have. We have the books which she loves us to read to her, and using her allowance, she's purchased the prince and princess figurines that she imagine plays with all the time. They're kind of what G.I. Joe's were for boys, but they're princesses for girls.

Anyway, with the influx of fairy tale items, it's brought up some interesting thoughts. First of all, the "nursery rhymes" we were told as a kid are not great bedtime stories. Think about Hansel and Gretyl or Little Red Riding Hood...clearly a bit scary. The same applies with all the princess stories. I remembered the characters from when I was a little girl, but I had forgotten many of the details. There's the queen in Snow White who is so vain that she sends a huntsman to bring back Snow White's heart in a box because she the is the fairest one of all, or there is the curse placed on Aurora when she's born that she'll die before she turns 16. These left us filtering out some of the words and phrases when we read them to Nina. However, there is no problem in the princess world that can't be solved by true love's kiss from the prince. The prince doesn't need to get to know the princess or spend time learning about her or her family. All he needs is to see her and how beautiful she is, they kiss then get married and live happily ever after in the castle. Once in the castle, it's a life of fancy dresses, tea parties, dances, parties, etc. Who doesn't want that life? Nina regularly wants to role play getting married. Thankfully right now, Daddy is Prince Charming.

I realize that all kids love to live and play in some sort of fantasy life. I think that's great for their imagination, and sooner or later they learn that all problems in life can't be solved by the kiss from a prince. It does make me think more though about mentioning often that princesses have to be smart, caring, generous, and responsible in order to be a good princess. Maybe not now, but definitely later, we'll have to talk about the reality that happily ever after isn't secured by a beautiful wedding dress and a Prince Charming. That's a good start, but we all know it takes more than that.

So, I guess we'll keep reading the princess stories but just make sure we're reading the Bible stories just as much. After all, Nina asked me the other day at breakfast if grown-ups really get swallowed by fish like Jonah did. I guess when you're three, the twists and turns of life can either end you up living a charmed life in a castle or in the belly of a fish for three days!