1 Mother 2 Another

I’ve successfully kept the Disney
princesses out of my house for over three years, but alas,
they’ve found their way in.


Yes, I know, they aren’t the end of the world. Setting aside
the whole issue of what sort of role model Snow White or Sleeping
Beauty is for our children, it’s not like they’re
peddling crack cocaine in the Disney Store.


Except that in a way, they are.

They lure you in with some sort of
necessary item – a toothbrush, say, or underpants. What girl
can resist a pair of sparkly underpants with a pretty princess on
them? Definitely not my girl, as I’ve written about at
length. “Who’s that?” your daughter asks you,
pointing to Snow White. And their journey towards the dark side has
begun.


Maddie received a couple books on tape about the Little Mermaid for
Christmas, and she absolutely loves them. Once she was familiar
with Ariel, Maddie wanted to know who all the mermaid’s
friends were she kept seeing Ariel hanging around. And we were off.


Maddie still hasn’t seen any of the movies – I know, I
know, I’ll let her eventually, but I’m telling you,
Ursula is the stuff of three-year-old nightmares. But now that she
recognizes the faces, my daughter sees the princesses everywhere.
And wants everything they’re on.


We’ve got a book of two hundred princess stickers. Actually,
make that TWO books, because Cora wants whatever she sees Maddie
get. Maddie’s drawer is full of princess panties, and even
though she’s got a cupboard bursting with princess dress-up
clothes, she wants me to get her the Cinderella and Snow White
dresses. We recently had a friend pass some clothing on to Maddie,
including a Cinderella sweater, and I hid it and smuggled it out
the door to the shop n swap before my child could see it. I have to
draw the line somewhere.


As I said before, dubious feminist messages aside, the princesses
aren’t really bad people. I simply resent the way
they’re on EVERYTHING and make you spend way more money than
you otherwise would while at Target, just because there’s
Princess paper plates and Princess toothpaste and Princess snack
goldfish. Ok, maybe not the last one, but you know what I mean.


So I dig in my heels and try valiantly not to let Disney get any
more of my money than is absolutely necessary, simply as a protest
of the way they try to manipulate the little tykes into
manipulating mommy and daddy out of their hard-earned cash. And
yes, the girls both have Elmo t-shirts, but it’s not the
same; the proceeds from all Sesame Street licensing gets poured
back into the Children’s Television Workshop nonprofit,
funding literacy all over the world. So there.


I fought the good fight for three years, and can only hope this
isn’t a complete capitulation. But seeing as how Cora’s
only a year and a half, I know I’ve got a long way before
this fad is outgrown.


And then it’s – gulp – Hannah Montana.