Princess Dilemma

I was reading Parents magazine and came across an article where they did an interview with Peggy Orenstein author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter. This article got me thinking about how much princesses and the like affected my teen daughter during her early years.

One of my favorite movies is Beauty and the Beast. So my daughter saw that movie a lot along with the other Disney princess movies The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. I bought her toys with princess themes and dress up clothes. We even went to Disney World where we met them. How did this all affect her? It didn't. She is who she is today not because of some princess movie I let her watch when she was younger or even for toys she played with. She is the way she is because of the things I taught her and the way she was raised.

I am not saying that some kids will not be effected by this entire princess attitude out there but parents have a job of deciding exactly what their child takes away from it. Yes my oldest is now 15 so it is different with all the clothes, toys and other things out there now. Kids now have Hannah Montana while she had Britney Spears but the same principles of what you teach your child are still the same. I didn't want my child wearing the short skirts that Spears was wearing so I didn't buy them. I didn't want her acting like her so I taught her how to act.

Us as parents need to teach our children what to take away from anything they see be it Princess Movies, cartoons or even everyday life. Also remember that these "princess" movies were made over 20 yrs. ago when values and thoughts were different.

I still have one more daughter to go that will go through the princess stage. Yes I will let her watch the movies, dress up and wave her wand. I will teach her while she is watching to be true to yourself, follow your heart, stand up for yourself, help others and always be kind.