Wednesday, December 23, 2009

My Little Princess

A couple funny princess stories. As a general rule, we try to avoid all things princess since I believe that the princess concept engenders sentiments of entitlement, wimpiness, and a distorted vision of the world around us ("happily ever after"...not in this world!). That's not to say that we in any way discourage pretending or dress-up--something we really do enjoy and encourage. But, princess, um, no. (On the flip side, parents can use the princess image to encourage positive behavior such as gentility, proper manners, grace, etc. Undoubtedly there are sociology and psychology books dedicated to the topic somewhere.) That being said, below are two Madge princess stories:
  1. A couple weeks ago, Madge told me, "Dad, my name is Maddy. But, you can call me 'princess' if you want to.'" I said, "Thanks, Madge. I'll note that." Not going to be happening soon, but nice to know I have her lady's leave to address her as such.
  2. Two days ago, Madge said, "Dad, my name is Madge, I'm a girl, I'm three, and I'm a princess." Okay, Madge. I got the memo!