It’s Not Easy Being a Princess
Princesses are getting a bad rap today.
To all grandparents, your granddaughters are princesses. How many times have you called her "my princess ."Most little girls aspire to be princesses and love playing dress-up, sporting a fancy dress and a crown. What little girl doesn’t? OK, I wanted to be Annie Oakley, but I'm sure I wanted to be a princess. And as grandparents, we buy them princess costumes in October for Halloween so they can parade around as a princess.
Encourage, yes encourage, your granddaughters to imagine themselves as princesses. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is a teachable moment for you as your Princess's grandfather or grandmother.
Take your Princess and sit her on your lap. In our family, my dad would have us sit on his lap in his rocking chair. Priceless memories. You can use this moment to teach your precious Princess about the lives of other princesses.
Let’s look at three:
Princess Elizabeth (who became Queen Elisabeth): As a princess, she convinced her royal family that she should join the military. And she did. She led the way in showing that women, especially princesses, can do many seemingly impossible things.
Did you know: that Princess Elizabeth enrolled in a six-week auto mechanic training course to support the military during WWII? During her service, young Princess Elizabeth learned how to repair and rebuild engines, change tires and drive multiple vehicles, including ambulances, jeeps, and trucks. Imagine that!
You go, girl! This is what a princess does, and this Princess exhibited fortitude in the presence of adversity.
Ask your Princess if she would be a hard worker like Princess Elizabeth.
Princess Di may be well known for her beautiful princess outfits, but she did more for the world's children by advocating against the use of landmines. Do you know what a landmine is? Landmines are explosive devices designed to be detonated by a person's presence, proximity, or contact during a time of war. Placed under or on the ground, they can lie dormant for years and even decades until a person, including many children, trigger their detonating mechanism and kill or severely hurt them. Many innocent children lost their lives playing in areas with former war landmines.
In 1997 Princess Di boldly walked onto a field known to contain landmines from a war decades before, to make the point that the world needed to be rid of landmines. This was very brave since if she had stepped on a mine that was in the field, it could have killed her or maimed her severely. That is the courage of this Princess to show the world that it can do without landmines. This was a field in that many children liked to play. Her courageous act precipitated the international ban on landmines that military worldwide abide by today and has been the catalyst for military and governments to work to identify and remove landmines from past wars to protect the children who may play on these fields. Her courageous act made the world better. That is what a princess does.
Ask your Princess if she is courageous like Princess Di.
Princess Kate, the newest British royal, loves sports and the outdoors. Does your little Princess like these too? Tell her that an actual princess enjoys participating in sports and outdoor activities. She can be a princess and still hike through the woods or play various sports competitively. After all, so does Princess Kate.
Ask your Princess if she wants to be competitive in her sport like Princess Kate.
Enjoy your princess granddaughter but let her know that she can be more than a fancy dress and a crown. She can be like other real princesses who have changed the world.
What does your Princess want to change? Ask her. You may be surprised once she understands what princesses do.
