Does That Come in Princess?

We all know that when it comes to princesses, the Walt Disney Corporation knows what it is doing. The Disney Princesses are beautiful, kind, sweet, and even smart. They have beautiful dresses, interesting stories, and handsome princes. Little girls dream about meeting them and love to dress up like them.

 

Janae is no different. She loves her Princesses, and especially her Princess stuff.

Princess stuff, of course, comes in all shapes and sizes. In our home, you could find the following items, all bearing the Disney Princess logo:

T-shirts
Dresses
Shoes (running shoes and dress-up shoes)
Slippers
PJs
Bathrobe
Underwear
Swimming suit
Books
Coloring books
Stickers
Pens
Calendar
Vitamins
CD player
Dolls (regular, Polly Pocket style, and paper dolls)
Yo-yo
Flashlight
Movies
Pillowcase
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Mega Blocks
Purse

 

This sounds like a lot of Princess stuff, but every time we go to the store, Janae spots other items she would like to add to the collection. On Janae's verbal wishlist you might find such commonly seen and advertised items as a Princess bike/scooter, Princess jewelry/hair accessories, or a Princess umbrella.

However, with the amount of Princess merchandise available, and the amount of Princess items we have given in and bought, Janae now has the mistaken idea the everything comes in Disney Princess.

For example, one day we were talking about fishing, and Benjamin asked what types of fish one could catch in a local lake. When I suggested "rainbow trout," Janae responded that she would like to catch a "Princess rainbow trout."

When we were talking about our favorite playground equipment at the park, and Benjamin said "slides," Janae commented that she would like to play on a "Princess slide."

One morning I offered to make pancakes, and Janae said she would like a "Princess pancake," and another time when we drove by a school called "North Poplar," Janae declared that she would like to attend "Princess Poplar" when she is ready for kindergarten.

Normally I think this is kind of funny or cute, although I do worry about the influence Disney's pervasive advertising might be having on my little daughter.

 

The other day I realized, though, that Janae not only thinks everything comes in Princess--she thinks everything she has should be Disney Princess. She was playing with one of her favorite toys, a pony house that happens to be generic--it doesn't have any company logos or pictures on it at all. Suddenly she pushed it aside and said, "I don't want this pony house any more; I want a Princess Pony House."

I took a second to compose myself and actually refrained from using the term "spoiled br#$%" . . . but I did use the common (and effective) Mom line "Maybe you don't need to have a pony house at all and we can give this one to another little girl who would appreciate it." Janae, of course, reconsidered and finally decided she would keep her pony house after all.

But seriously, I think we have over-bought into this Princess phenomenon, and I, for one, have decided not to buy any more Disney Princess items . . . although I guess I'll need to wait until after Janae's Ariel birthday party, which she is already planning for the beginning of March.

I guess I should just consider myself lucky, though, because it could be worse. She could be asking, "Does that come in Star Wars?"

 

Because chances are, it probably does.