We're back! And...Princesses!?!?

So, so, so many things to blog about... but I will start from today and so as not to become overwhelmed and simply not do anything I will add in the old stuff if I have time...

I am opposed to Barbi and princess stuff for little girls for several reasons.  Primarily because they presuppose a man/knight-in-shining armor as the means to salvation, rescue, and ultimately happiness. I could go on...  Although I had intended to simply ban Barbi and princesses from our house and toy collection I have once again been reminded that parenting in the future-tense is far easier than parenting in real-time.

Miss. A loves princesses.  Actually she loves beautiful and girly things.  It happens that princesses are readily available and marketed directly to her.  She is drawn to them, in the store they are like fishing lures.  Pink boxes with cursive handwriting and blond dolls with unhealthy proportions call to her, and she is absolutely powerless to resist.  Consequently, she has received princess costumes, and toys of many kinds as gifts (not from me).

Miss. A was thrilled to unwrap a huge set of Disney princess legos from Nana (my mom) for Christmas. She hastily set about scattering the pink and white legos about the living room.  Having located the princess and prince figures she quickly enlisted me to build the castle.

Ta dah!!!

A was horrified to see that the prince's bed was right next to the princess'.  "Ewwwww!"  She announced. "The princess can not sleep near the boy!"  Oh I laughed, so many witty thoughts that would be lost on a three-year old, but I knew that this would headline my return to the blog world. Definitely funny, right?  And maddening (see next paragraph)!  So, the boy bed was moved, by A, to a location more suitable for well, a boy...  You see his bed in this picture, now perched precariously on some kind of castle turret, or outcropping.

But the mom in me can't help but be upset with toy makers.  We have had countless lego sets through our home in the last 12 years.  They were all of the "boy" variety until recently.  I know their are a lot of arguments to be made by making a gender distinction about toys, but we have had the knights, and the space ships, etc.  These sets don't come with a bedroom set.  This is one small part of the over-sexualization of our society.  As a mom of both boys and girls, it is tragic that girls fall prey to this and in seemingly innocuous ways. My opposition to princesses has been underscored and reaffirmed!