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Fairytale Corner: The Princess and the Mum who thought too much.

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, lived a princess.

Strictly speaking, she wasn’t ACTUALLY a princess.
Her parents were not royalty, but she was a clever, sassy little girl who decided she was a princess.
Who was anyone else to argue?

One day, not long ago, the princess was giddy with excitement.
She was going to attend a ball with all of her friends.

Actual footage of the Princess

A lot of planning and thought had gone into the evening and the princess had carefully selected her outfit and decided how she would wear her hair. It was going to be a joyous event.

Now, the princess’ mother was not a wicked woman though she did, on occasion, make mistakes.
She sometimes struggled in her attempt to help her daughter grow to be the strong, independent, free thinking woman she knew she would be.

Having once been a young girl herself, she knew how hard it could be growing up and how mean other children could be.
The mother was often conflicted, both wanting to protect her daughter whilst encouraging the princess to be whatever she wanted to be (even when she did play football in her brand new school shoes).

Artists Impression of the Mother (who isn’t a witch)

Though she was a modest woman, she was quite proud to generally have the balance spot on.

However, as she watched the princess excitedly plan the most beautiful princess dress for the occasion, the mother found herself getting a little anxious.
The princess had been told before, how silly it was to be a princess – friends believed it was now time to be ‘girls’. The mother had visions of the princess arriving at the ball, full of excitement and delight only to have the girls laugh at her.

The very thought broke the mother’s heart and so, she subtly went about changing the princess’s mind.
The mother was not proud of her actions but her desire to protect her daughter from potentially feeling bad about herself was strong.
The princess duly changed her mind and wore a lovely, but considerably less wonderful dress than she originally intended.

The princess attended the ball dressed as a girl like many others.

From the moment the princess left the house, the mother was riddled with guilt.
She had always prided herself on encouraging the princess to be and do whatever she chose.
She had always tried to teach her that it really didn’t matter what anyone else thought, the princess’ happiness came first and foremost.
The mother firmly believed that her daughter could be anything she wanted to be and any other person trying to stop that had their own battles to fight.

Yet there went the princess, going to the ball dressed as a normal girl, and her mother was solely to blame.
Some of the other girls had decided that they were, in fact, princesses too and had dressed accordingly. The mother had failed the princess and was attacked by a vicious bout of Mumguilt.

The princess thoroughly enjoyed the ball and didn’t think twice about what she was wearing – after all an outfit does not determine how wonderful an event will be or how  genuine friends will treat you.
The mother made a vow to never question the princess’ choices again. She would continue to encourage her to be the independent and sassy little girl she had always admired and endeavoured to support her no matter what until the end of time.

They all lived happily ever after…until the princess was about 10 and hormones and stuff kicked in then they butted heads for the next 10 years.

The End

 

 

2 Comments

  • Unmindfulmama

    Gosh, such a poignant post (and wonderfully written too). This rings so true with me, trying to encourage our children (especially our girls) to be anything they want to be, but at the same time we have this enormous need to protect our kids from feeling hurt or pain from others. I’ve pondered on this dilemma a fair bit and I think a lot of it has to do with our hang ups from our own childhood. I reckon at the end of the day our kids are probably much more robust than we give then credit for. But also, we’re just doing the best jobs we can as mums that love them to bits. xxx

    • Anna

      I think you’re right, they’re probably stronger than we anticipate and maybe not all ‘other kids’ are as mean as we think they’ll be.
      It’s hard knowing what to do for the best some times!

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