a peek inside the fishbowl

1 | Claudette

July 12th, 2016 at 2:30 pm

I’ll tell you, I’m happy to be past the princess stage! The costumes are moving on to younger, more princess-y girls in the ‘hood. :)

Having said that, the main thing I forced myself to remember is that this, too, is mostly a phase.

My now 8yo thought that Ariel was the best princess because she was mostly in the water. Swimming, apparently, is a suitable and desirable activity for certain princesses!

2 | andrea tomkins

July 13th, 2016 at 1:24 pm

Yes! Everything is pretty much a phase at that age. :)
I really had to hold my tongue re: Ariel. I couldn’t quite figure out the huge sacrifices she made for the prince. Giving up her voice? That’s kind of a big deal!

3 | Claudette

July 14th, 2016 at 11:31 am

It’s interesting to me how we adults interpret the actions of the (Disney) princesses. As Sonja got older I asked her about these types of things, and it never occurred to her to think beyond the obvious. To her, Ariel is a princess who is a mermaid which means she swims, all the time! That’s what her focus was, not the sacrifices she (or any other princesses) make for their so-called princes.

Do girls still wait for boys, or sacrifice things in their lives, for boys today?I don’t know what the tween- and teenage years hold in store for us, but I would be very surprised if my own daughter would look to princesses as role models.

4 | andrea tomkins

July 18th, 2016 at 9:23 am

Frankly, it’s impossible to point to a movie/doll/Princess Candyland and blame that for any outcome. There are so many other factors involved in raising children, aren’t there? Besides, I watched those movies and I turned out ok! It’s obviously not one thing, but it’s one thing we were able to control because it was our preference and also helped our own sanity. (This is also why our kids were not allowed to watch Barney. lol)