Me: "Look what I found!"
C: "What is it?"
Me: "It's a superfast power princess dress!"
C: "Which princess?"
Me: "I don't know. The princess who dropped it off was so fast that I didn't see her!"
C: (doubtfully) "Not Ariel, she swims."
Me: "No. Not Ariel."
C: "And not Cinderella. She doesn't run."
Me: "Hmm."
C: "And I already have her dress."
Me: "That's true. And you don't need two princess dresses. Should we send it back?"
C: "Wait. Wait a minute."
Me: "What?"
C: "Well. You know." (touching the dress) "I was thinking. Maybe I don't need Cinderella anymore. Maybe I could give it to Eva. She loves Cinderella." (now fully holding the dress in both hands) "Or maybe to someone who never had a princess dress."
Me: "I think that is a great idea."
C: (tries it on. stands stiffly.) "Do you think I could jump in it?"
Me: "Oh yes. You could certainly jump in it."
C: "And she was fast?"
Me: "Like the wind."
C: "I'm fast too. I'll show you."
She sprints the circle of our house 9 times in a row, jumping spastically, tripping over the dog, and collapsing into a panting heap at my feet.
Cinderella: 0 Mama: +1
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great post. Very encouraging. I really like your tactic. I'm super grateful that my daughter has remained mostly sheltered from the DP junk. She's coming up on 5 now and knows about the princesses, she's even encountered them here and there via friends from her preschool, but she also knows that they are "characters" and that mommy doesn't like "characters" and that they are not allowed in our home.
ReplyDeleteOne of the ways I've dealt with princessification in our house is by redirecting toward fairies. We do allow "princess" play, but through generic princess and fancy dresses. I love your strategy of creating a super fast princess all about power and prowess!