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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Pretty Pretty Princess


Sofia the First

Princesses, or Princesas, as Addie Jo knows them, have captured the imagination and hearts of little girls for ages.  I remember growing up with BOTH a love of being active by playing sports in the yard AND a love of all things princess related (I'm not sure if She-Ra was a typical princess back in the 80s, but I emulated her and believed that I literally turned into her one Christmas morning when I put on the She-Ra outfit I got from Santa).

Then, the next winter, we were fortunate enough to go to Disney World when I was 6.  After years of watching home videos from that trip, I was reminded that I did actually enjoy so many other parts of the park, but the most vivid magical memory I have was meeting Cinderella and seeing her outside the castle.  I took it soooooo seriously, as the home video shows, ;) but I probably walked on air for the rest of the vacation, believing I had met a REAL princess!

Cinderella Doll from Addie's friend, Libby

Sitting with Cinderella
































Then, of course, I loved the the rest of the princesses that came out in the 90s - Ariel, Belle, Pocohantas, and Mulan, along with the original 3 - Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora.  Even though I was probably too old to watch the movies, since I was in high school for some of their releases, I had younger sisters who I could watch them with.  And I loved it!  (ps - I wasn't such a girlie-girl, like it might seem, and actually lived for the competitive high school games I had trained all summer and season for - me competitive?! yea, yea...).  Even though it was silly, my sisters and mom and I would always talk about their dresses and hair and debate which one we liked the best.  But there was something so magical in them that yet somehow seemed attainable to us.

Then, this past December, Addie got one of her 3 bad colds she's had this winter while we were 7 hours away visiting Bill's family in Michigan.  She was so miserable that she couldn't do much, other than let us "hear about it" in the car - poor thing.  So LUCKILY the Disney Junior app had Sofia the First streaming for her to watch on my phone.  She was used to watching Casa de Mickey Mouse, as Bill calls it, before her morning nap with bottle routine, BUT this show was on a whole other level for her!  We couldn't believe how much she loved (and still loves) it and how she was so transfixed that she didn't move or make a sound for the hour long movie (we let her watch it twice both there and back - we were desperate)! 

Addie Jo opening princesses for the castle she got for Christmas
All the princesses must fit in the same spot!
So pleased with herself!
Little People Princess Palace Link


So why is it that most young girls (errr, and not so young) are SO into princesses things?  It comes down to something I don't think about a lot, but have been reminded of recently by my sister Janet and the team at Verily - that all women desire Beauty.  

It's something we all are naturally drawn to, whether we are conscious of it or not.  Of course beautiful things like dresses, make-up, hairstyles, nails, jewelry, shoes, and bags come to mind - who doesn't "oooo" and "aaaa" over a bride on her wedding day?  But then most of us are even more drawn to beautiful people who posses virtue, honesty, modesty, grace, and kindness (all of the things Princess Sofia has).  Even thinking about the princesses I grew up with like Cinderella and Belle - they seemed so beautiful to me because they stood out from the rest of the characters in their stories.  It is because of their kindness to others and willingness to do the right thing that is so appealing to all ages - and even attainable.

So even though I definitely won't win mom of the year for letting my then 11 month old and now almost 13 month old watch that much Sofia, I do hope she someday emulates the good qualities of a princess... even if she decides to spend most of her time on the court.

*Disclaimer - I am in no way "endorsing" all things Disney Channel OR iPhone, for that matter * ;)

10 comments:

  1. And we all want a Prince :)

    Stuck in a car with a sick kid for that long - it would be bad parenting NOT to let her watch tv as much as she wanted.

    I wish we could let our kids watch movies in the car but 3 out of 5 get car sick. It's just audio books for us. Boo.

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    1. oh gosh, i can't imagine taking a road trip with car sick kids!
      hopefully that doesn't mean you can't make it out to indy with everyone! ;)

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  2. What a sweet post, made my day! I really had no idea you liked all things princess (or as Grace says Prim press) when you were a kid, probably bc we weren't friends till High School :).

    I can't imagine fighting the colds in cold weather with kids, you know what i mean. We have enough sickness without them living in 90 degree weather.

    Love ya!

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    1. yes, it stinks! she's not even in day care so i don't know how she keeps getting sick - it's awful and breaks our hearts every time! luckily she likes the princess shows!

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  3. I was flipping through my google reader and the picture of your princess pic popped up.
    Grace said, stop, then pointed to the princess saying, that gracie-girl. We scrolled down the rest of your post and she pointed to addy saying, that hopie girl. :)

    And she wants me to buy her the castle.

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  4. Oh my goodness, that's hysterical. It was a good investment since we play with it all the time - can she wait for her birthday in May? and i'm sure every baby is her hopie girl!

    side note - Ok I need to figure out how to do things on my blog - it's getting ridiculous haha

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  5. Hi Sarah! Nice to meet you. Just stopping on over from Colleen's blog. Looking forward to reading more from you!

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    1. Sarah! Thx for hopping over. Ill be sure to check out yours too!

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  6. Hi Sarah! I too am visiting from Colleen's blog. So happy to "meet" you and your sweet family. And my little Flynn LOVES Cinderella. You have no idea. And she also got that wonderful Little People Castle for Christmas this year. Love it! Will be visiting here again soon. : )

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  7. Thx, Billie Jo! I love the name Flynn! So cute! And I love that she got the castle for Christmas, too! We play with it every day over here. Ill definitely hop over to your blog!

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Gracias for saying Hola!

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