You know she really does love a good princess dress…despite the forest and the boots and the dirt and the bugs. Which is why she couldn’t have been more excited a few weeks ago to attend a “princess party”, hosted by one of her classmates, last week to celebrate a birthday.
I wrote about uncanny marriage of the forest school persona and the princess before, but their peaceful coexistence continues.
I used to be afraid of the princess thing, thinking that even if we got too close to the glittered and sparkled tulle that it might catch on like a wildfire, or a virus. But I have to say I wholeheartedly don’t mind anymore. I even bought her this particular dress (and the wreath and the matching shoes to go with it). I’m an enabler now, I suppose…
And she’s not the only one… one of the things I’ve noticed is while the girls at the school love to get dirty, and throw sand, and make mud pies and play with dump trucks and you name it, there is still a bit of natural gravitation towards all things delicate and sparkly. Not all of them, and not all the time. And frankly, I’ve seen some of the boys run around with a head wreath on with the best of them too….it’s okay to make space for some of those feelings. After all, who isn’t drawn in by a little bit of magic or a little bit of fairy tale ? I don’t think it’s sad that girls – or boys – want to be part of them…I think it’s sad when we stop believing in them altogether.