Princesses?

Alright, I admit it. I don't get it.

I mean, there are some things I get about childhood, some developmental stages that just make sense. But someone, somwhere needs to explain to me what the deal is with the princess thing!

I actually had the audacity to think that I was safe. Those of you out there who know me, will know there ain't a princess bone in my body. I was the kid with the baseball cap who liked to go worm collecting. Oh sure, my mom may tell you about the barbies and the obsession with disco, but I don't think that even she would be able to confess to remembering a princess infatuation.

So, I smugly listened as other parents talked about their daughters being obsessed with castles and dresses and stories of princess' finding their prince. "Not my girl," I would silently sing, "she's into race cars, climbing anything and everything and thought the huge spider that built her web outside our window was really cool." So I was thinking I made it through.

And then, sometime just before Christmas, it started. By January, had totally take hold. Where it came from, how it germinated insideously in my family, I'll never know. But I have to admit it now, my kid has a bad case of princessitis. Yup, loves everything associated with princesses. Now, it's all dresses all the time. Pink, sparkly shoes, tiaras and hoop skirts. One one particularly bright and sunny Saturday afternoon, I found myself shlepping off to Disney on Ice, where two little girls, Kiyomi and her friend, Mara, were rapt by billowy sequines gliding in front of their eyes.

Soooo, now I'm on the hunt for cool princesses. You know, Paper Bag Princess-types. The princesses who trick the dragon, outsmart the witch and save the day. Not that the Sleeping Beauty types aren't worthwhile in their way, but I want a princess modelled after a kick-butt heroine. Someone like Pink - all sass and attitude with a lot of toughness thrown into the mix. So, if you happen to know of any good ones, let me know. Just for a little inspiration, the pics for this post have been intentionally chosen for their distinctly unprincess-like behaviour - or at least not à la princess of Monaco, think more Courtney Love meets Snow White!

I've also been inspired by my blog hero who's launched a Friday Fashion Challenge. She's started a tradition of getting her girls to dress themselves on once a week and has been posting pictures of the fabulous results! I figured I could use a little loosening of the mom-control-freak thing, so weekends are all up to Kiyomi. Here's the last outfit (I particularly like the belt/leggings combo).

The parting shot is a little video of the princess in her element. Hmm, I'm thinking we may have a perfomer on our hands. Figures, what else could we expect with two introverts as parents, someone's gotta carry the conversation at parties. And yes, that is Waltzing Mathilda in the background, for some reason this has been identified as a particularly princessy-like song. Who am I to argue?

Good night from Ottawa.