Sunday, August 14, 2011

Punk Rock Girl v. Princess

My husband & I were terrified when we found out that we were having a girl. Why? One word - princess.

There's plenty out there on princess culture. Or, you can just take a quick look around to see it. Little girl jammies with "princess" emblazoned over the bottom? Seriously? Yes. And so on.

So all we had to do was not buy those things, right? No tiara, no mani/pedi before age 5, etc. That's how we had it figured. 

And it looked like we were right on. Our little one plays in the dirty like you wouldn't believe and loves to hug and frollic with the dog. When she falls down, she almost always just gets right back up. The height of drama is a sing-song "uh-oh."

Yesterday, my mom picked her up a collection of Disney books at a garage sale. Today & yesterday, I tried to read her a few of them. They're 24 pages each & pretty wordy for someone under 1.5 years, so I wasn't sure how far I'd get. 

The Brave Little Tailor - 2 pages. 
Oliver & Company - 4 pages. 
Cinderella - 24 pages. Make that 48 pages, because she wanted to see it again. Oh, and 72, because she went back for it tonight.

As far as I know, Daphne's never seen Cinderella in any other format. I'll have to double check with school, but that's not the kind of thing I've seen. I think my parents would have mentioned if they'd watched a movie with her.

What does this mean? It means my daughter was innately drawn to Cinderella. What does that mean? Quite probably nothing. I'm not sweating this particular small thing. At the moment, I'm just observing with curiosity.

And here's a curiosity: Cinderella is nothing at all like the "princesses" in the princess culture. She certainly doesn't have time for a mani/pedi! She's kind, patient and a hard worker. (She's also beautiful with tiny feet.) I guess that's a role model I can accept.


In the final analysis, I don't think any aspect of a person's personality is wholly nuture OR nature. I think it's our job as parents to present a wide array of opportunities for my daughter. Where we see interest & talent, provide additional encouragement. Whether she turns out to be a princess or a punk rock girl, as long as she's kind & patient, and works hard - I'll pat myself on the back for a job well done. 

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