Yesterday, one of my daughter’s Montessori friends invited her for a "princess" themed birthday party. All the guests (but not parents, thank God) had to come dressed as a princess and the whole event promised to be very girly. We arrived just in time for the first activity: decorating and personalizing your very own jewelry box. The birthday girl was resplendent in a blue and green sparkly mermaid costume that paid homage to her very own favourite princess, Ariel from the Little Mermaid.
My daughter’s costume, however, suffered from my inability to get organised for this party…as usual. Her costume consisted of pink leggings, a striped T-shirt and a gauzy pull-on skirt that we got as part of a fairy costume a couple of years ago. What saved us were a pair of sparkly silver shoes that I’d picked up at Target a couple of weeks ago on a weekend run to the US.
Unlike most of her regal companions, my little one looked like an alternative, pink rocker princess who fit into no Disney movie that I know! But, the beauty of being three is that she could care less – she was thrilled to be included in this "big girls’ party" and was happy just to tag a long with her friends.
Having an older brother who likes to jump, shout and play-fight, my daughter was sometimes not great the super-girly activities like ballroom dancing. However, she embraced others like the mini-manicure station, where she boldly painted her fingers in different colours because, in her words "why should I pick just one!" I was secretly proud of her offbeat choices in nail colour, which I may add, only added to the ultra-feminine rocker aesthetic! All was wonderful and pink until a cloud of pink and purple balloons descended from the ceiling onto the little princesses. The balloons, proceeded to pop loudly in great numbers and my little one burst into vehement sobs of fear. The time had come for us to leave.
We returned home from the fun party – kudos to the mom who did all that planning, it was awesome – to my son, who was pouting at being left out. My daughter immediately shed her princess skirt and planted herself in our family room with a bunch of lego and her dolls. Cinderella was home after the ball, and happy to be back in her comfort zone.
I went to a Barbie party once…. And, all I can say is WHOA!!! The monkey loved the play jewelery but was happy to return to Thomas the Train when she got home…. 😉
I love your description Amreen. At the moment my little one will only wear dresses – with pants under them – style and colour not a concern. Makes for interesting outfits.
Isn’t it amazing to see their wonderful personalities emerge? I have 2 daughters, and my first loves dinosaurs more than anything else and refuses to own a Barbie or Polly Pocket. Well, I puffed right up and took credit for strong gender-neutral parenting until number 2 began to assert herself, wanting all things pink, princess and pouffy. A whole lotta nature, and not much nurture there, LOL. Looks like I can’t take parenting credit after all, but just embrace both my girls and encourage them to explore their own, unique interests, be they mainstream or more indie 🙂
My daughter has been to those parties too and, even though it’s completely against her nature, we even hosted a Princess Party for her 6th birthday! Your daughter sounds awesome!
Your little one sounds like a lot of fun!
I’m right there with you, Amreen! My daughter was a vampire for Halloween. She was the only non-princess/ballerina in her class! Check out my blog for pics. I love the fact that she has a unique approach to the world.