That monster’s name is Natalie. She’s my 3 year old, and she loves princesses. She eats, sleeps, plays, talks, and watches princesses. In all the girly things I wanted my girls to do, “Princess” was not at the top of my list. The media and the stores do not help either. Disney Channel has many, many princesses in movies and whatnot. There are princess fruit snacks, princess dress-up clothes, birthday cards, backpacks, cake molds, bicycles, cars, make-up, pajamas, shoes, coloring books, cereals, and even cameras. And that isn’t even an exhaustive list!

I have put my foot down now. We have rented princess movies for Natalie at the library, which she watches daily. When we went to the library yesterday, I picked out her movies and there were no princesses in any of them. She peered into the bag to see what I had picked, and the first words out of her mouth were, “Mommy, we need a princess movie. I saw Belle over there. I will go get it for you.” I was at first insulted at the thought that she thought I needed the princess movie. And then, I went from insulted to resolute. “No, we need a brake from princesses. We will get some more another time.” After minor objections, she conceeded.

Amazingly, she is enjoying the expanded options. And while I am glad for the “Princess Hiatus”, I do have to remember to be thankful that she likes princesses, and not Transformers, or hunting, or slimy yucky things. As obsessed as she is with these princesses, at least they can be a springboard for learning good manners, and how to act like a lady. Perhaps this isn’t so bad after all!