No Princesses Here

I have a little pet peeve.  No.  Not a little one.  A HUGE pet peeve.  I can not handle the little divas of today.  I can not handle when I go into a store and see little girls throwing temper tantrums in the aisles and their tired mothers' give in to them to avoid a scene.  Because with each "compromise" a girl realizes that she has control over her parents and that she can continue to throw a fit to get what she wants.  I spend a lot of time hoping and praying that I am not that mother in one of those aisles.  I can not handle the mentality that each girl is a princess who should get whatever she wants.  The phrase "treat her like a princess" does not mean to give into her every whim, as most people think. 

A few weeks ago when Munchkie and I walked into her classroom there was someone visiting who made a comment about Munchkie being such a little princess and recent events started to come together.  I had seen this parent in the classroom several times and a few day prior to this Munchkie came home, found a blanket and put it on her head.  She pranced around saying "I a pin-sess Mommy!  I a pin-sess!"  and I told her then "We don't have princess in this house, so take the blanket off your head or pretend something else."  See, pretending to be a princess today is very different than pretending to be a princess when I was growing up.  I used to pretend to have tea parties, I loved the Disney Princess movies and spent hours in my great grandmother's old heels wearing my mother's old dresses.  However, the lessons I learned from the Disney Princesses were not lessons of being entitled and privileged but of overcoming difficult times- which everyone has, including princesses. 

So today, when a nice Italian man said to Munchkie "oh aren't you a little princess" to which she energetically agreed, I refrained from stating the thoughts in my head.  I wanted to shoot off that she was not a princess, we didn't believe in princesses, she has manners and respect for others around her.  But I refrained and instead smiled, said "yeah she's a crazy" and kept walking.  In my head I began to think about how I was going to combat this princess mentality.  Because I will not have a diva with a princess mentality.  I will continue to enforce manners, treating others with respect, and selflessness and hope that I can help form a beautiful girl who exemplifies these qualities..