I have this habit of steering Kate away from princesses. It's not a conscious thing, but I've started to recognize it for what it is. For example, I encouraged her to be Tinkerbelle at Halloween instead of a victimized princess character from a Disney movie. At least Tinkerbelle has some spunk, thinks for herself and doesn't fantasize about becoming a bride as the end-all-be-all of her existence.Today at school the kids were to dress up as their favorite book character. Kate's favorite book right now is Cars, but I wasn't sure how to throw together a Lightning McQueen costume in two days. Peter Rabbit is another we've been reading recently. It seemed pretty easy too. Bunny ears - check. Blue jacket - check. Cotton tail - check. Whiskers and rabbit nose makeup - check.
I pulled it all together yesterday and talked it up to get some buy-in from her. She seemed pretty jazzed about it and kept calling me Mr. McGregor. But this morning she of course didn't want to wear her costume. Risking a swift kick to the chops I wrestled with her to pull on a pair of brown pants with a tissue-stuffed sock pinned to the butt. Finally I was given the go-ahead to put the pants on her but only if I promised to take the cottontail off. At least she was still interested in wearing the whiskers and nose make-up. But she kept rubbing her face so the black eyeliner smeared. It was unclear whether the smears were part of the costume or grime missed during last night's bath.
So, no ears and no tail and a black smudged face. No one knew what the heck she was until I handed over the book, Peter Rabbit. At least she let me take the book. There was a point when she wasn't going to let me do that either.
When we arrived at her classroom three of her classmates were dressed up like Tinkerbelle, Snow White and Cinderella. I could almost read Kate's mind as she stared at them twirling around. I could have worn my princess clothes?!? But no, I'm wearing this stupid rabbit costume. Okay, so maybe I'm putting words in her mouth. I still think I'll make it up to her tonight by getting my girl on and having a tea party with some flouncy dress-up clothes.
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1 comments:
Bunnies rule. Cinderella's a fool.
My sister, in all of her I-meant-well ways, is delighted to have a girl after 4 boys. So they're into the princess thing. BIG. So, my sister, in all of her I-meant-well ways, buys Kate books for her birthday. Not only are they based on the typical "Sleeping Beauty" and "Aladin" fairy tales, the books are recorded and "read" on their own. You simply turn the pages. (after 5 kids, I'd probably want the same thing) So, you end up with 6 pages of recorded message ending in "So, he put her on his horse, they rode off, and lived happily ever after."
Pass me a beer. I'm going to go watch Cars with my Kate. :)
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