Earlier this month we celebrated yet another birthday with one of
our good friends.
It was a royal party with a very special guest!
It also posed somewhat of a dilemma for me as a parent which I will get to later.
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| The Birthday Girl |
Cinderella arrived to much fan-fare and took some time for a few photo ops.
Cinderella led the party crowd in
few fun songs and dance routines.
Clara Rose was happy to join in- but Josie tended to hang off to the side as she often
does when presented with a new person who she does not know.
Soon it was time for cake!
While everyone enjoyed cake, Cinderella amzed the crowd with her
face/arm painting talents.
'Most' of the girls requested a princess to be painted on their arm.
I say most, because, two of the girls did not--
namely my two.
So what did Josie and Clara Rose request for their painting?
Josie, being very descriptive asked for
a monkey walking away from a castle.
Clara Rose was more than thrilled to have a
sparkling Penguin painted on her arm.
Next Cinderella showed off more of her
Princess skills by making balloon animals.
Still more-- a pinata filled with yummy treats!
Lastly, the girls were very happy to give the Birthday Girl her present from them.
My Dilemma-- my question . . .
Am I being negligent as a parent?
As most of my friends know, I am not all that 'into' the Princess thing. It isn't that I am anti-Princess (OK, maybe a little) I was a big fan of the Grimms version and was not too happy with the Disney interpretations.
I have been told by one co-worker that I am taking away their ability to
hope and dream by not doing more with the Princess thing.
I'm not quite buying into that either.
As it has worked out-- Neither Josie or Clara Rose are all that into Princesses either.
Not that they aren't exposed to Princesses-- they go to Preschool and PreK.
They see the stuff that their friends at school have.
We've watched a couple Princess movies and Josie
tends to ask how much longer the movie will be.
So, at this party-- both of my girls had very little, if any, idea of who Cinderella is and why everyone was making such a fuss (at least until the fun stuff started).
I felt a little guilty that all of the other girls were sooo excited and mine were more like,
"Who? What?"
And, at this point with Clara Rose, I am kind of thinking that I would happily trade Dora for the Princesses!
4 comments:
Yep! Under the definition of a negligent parent you will find your name. NOT! You are as far from a negligent parent that you can get. And obviously your kids could care less.
Blessings!
We don't do the princess thing, either. I just can't stomach it. We actually stay away from most "character" products or themes. She might watch the movies here and there (I think she has seen Cinderella but that is it) but we don't buy into all of that merchandise, etc. Ada likes princesses okay but she is more into other things.
No offense to your co-worker, but the notion that it takes exposure to princesses to teach little girls to "hope & dream" is absurd. There are a million ways to teach these lessons - setting the example for your kids (as a wife, mother, person, employee, employer), creating magical memories in their lives, encouraging them to pursue their interests, celebrating their personal achievements, etc. Princesses are not the end-all in that lesson.
I try to stay away from merchandising as well-- it is a hard one!
Most of the shows the girls watch are not really mainstream (or not mainstream anymore). They mostly watch cartoons on netflix with "My Big Big Friend" and "Dragon Tails," being their current faves. We have a couple of Sagwa dvds that they like as well.
The commercial character that I am more likely to buy is Hello Kitty.
Ada used to LOVE Dragon Tales - we can't seem to find it on TV around us anymore. I actually ended up buying some DVDs of the old episodes because she really enjoys that show!
Her current favorite is Clifford - that dog never gets old to her!
I don't mind watching the shows or the movies, I just have a hard time buying the character merchandise. I don't know why - it's my own hang-up, I think! I don't think her childhood is suffering too much from it, though!
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