Being a household of girls we have mainly princess and prince play, a LOT of it, every day. We have Barbies and dolls who are all looking for their Prince Charming.
Only today Ella's "boyfriend", a male friend who has been her significant other since 3 year old kinder, gave her an engagement ring! I kid you not. You should have seen it, Ella all coy, the boy in question putting it on her finger. For the most part I go aww shucks, so cute, but lately I've thought hmmmm, this has been going on for 4 years, it's almost like she believes it!
Leila loves a boy in her 3 year old kinder class and keeps asking "why am I too young to get married?"
Then flowers are wedding flowers. A visit to Grandma and Grandpas meant picking a few poor mans roses and turning them into a bouquet.
Are my girls unique, or are others as into this whole partner dynamic, should I be worried? Are we not raising our girls to have independent spirits? I'm not seriously concerned but it starting to register more than just with a passing smile.
5 comments:
I have two girls as well. The oldest is 3 and she's right into the fairytale. I think it's from Disney movies as I don't think I've drummed my romantic notions into her...well, not yet anyway! The other day she told me when she gets bigger and bigger and bigger - she will marry her king. Who am I to burst her bubble and tell her he's likely to be a tradesman or an accountant?
By the way, when I was in Prep my class hosted a wedding where I married Jamie Davidson. I had a veil and everything. By grade 2 I was over him. I think it was Derek W by then...can't remember. See? They'll move on too. x
I'm pretty careful with all the princess and barbie stuff with my girls as although romance is lovely, I think expecting Prince Charming to come and save you isn't. I don't know whether all those fairytale concepts are really archetypal or misguided..
I think all the relationship and wedding stuff though is probably just innocent play acting and emotional exploration in preparation for stuff down the track, just as dress ups and play cooking are. It's all pretty sweet to watch though!
i think my girl is heading in that direction. she wears princess dresses everyday. i went to buy her shoes for the wedding two days ago and she insisted on getting a pair of glittery, pink princess shoes. she loves them. right now, she sorts her dolls and stuff animals into family units, like mommy, daddy, brother, sister, but i am sure that will change one day.
I'm a cynic but I let mine enjoy their role playing - just last week I had to marry both of them and their visiting friend.
I do agree with Jasmine in that I don't want my two thinking Prince Charming saves the day/night or year. Disney Princesses annoy us but we let them watch in moderation. The 3yo is more intrigued than her older sis.
In our lives we've balanced all the pink, princessy, marriagey stuff with a couple of nice picture books - "Cinder Edna" and "The Paper Bag Princess" - both of them are fun "against-stereotype" books which can be either read just for pleasure or used to start some thoughtful discussion with your girls.
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