You can take the girl out of Princess-land...

But you can NOT take the Princess-land out of the girl.

I know this may come as a shock to most of you - but I am not a girly girl. Never have been. Never will be. I played with GI Joes when I was little, because that's what my brothers wanted to play. There may be a few slightly true stories floating around of a time long ago when I actually "sacrificed" Barbies belonging to younger play mates. They may or may not have floated down a river tied to sticks. (Dial-A-Kearl to confirm)

I don't care for chick flicks. I really don't like sappy chick books. And I would much rather slip into some comfortable sweats than get all gussied up for a formal dinner or event with the law firm. I'm a low maintenance dresser (read: often frumpy) and I like to spend as LITTLE time as possible getting ready in the morning. Minimal hair up-keep. Minimal make-up. Minimal jewelry.

I'm not a tom boy though, don't get confused. I just am not a girly girl. Maybe it was growing up with 5 brothers and only 1 sister? Maybe my parents just didn't encourage or promote girly girl behavior? Or maybe I'm just genetically predisposed to not liking frilly things?

In any case, I SWORE on my life, that my precious little miracle daughter would not be "girly". I would not encourage it. I would not support it. I would not condone such behavior.

But alas... you can try to take a girl out of Princess-land, but you can not take the Princess-land out of the girl.

It crept in slowly. A Disney movie here and there. A Disney book now and again. A trip to Disneyland. And all the beautiful Disney princess dress-ups at Grammie Lou's house. The Disney princess inside Emma was just SCREAMING to be released.

And finally, we all relented.

There are a few rules that one must follow when entering Emma's Princess-land... should you dare:

1. Although the princess dress-ups were still not purchased with her Mother's dime, whenever she goes to Grammie Lou's house, she MUST try on every. single. princess. dress. in the wardrobe and she MUST wear one home. Her favorites are Ariel, Belle and Angelina Ballerina.

2. Any SECOND she is inside the confines of her "palace walls" she MUST have on "said" princess dress. It is the first thing she asks for in the morning and she will only take it off to sleep (so it doesn't rip) and to go run errands with Mom (so it doesn't get dirty or so other kids don't take it from her).

3. When she is wearing the costume, she can ONLY be addressed as costumed princess. If you say ANYTHING at all to her it must be using the appropriate princess name. And EVERY sentence spoken to her must use her name in the sentence. For example, "Ariel would you like your breakfast?" - "Belle would you please clean up your toys?" - "Angelina Ballerina do you need to go to the bathroom?". If you do not address her as such, she will not respond, or QUICKLY correct you and say, "My name is Ariel - could you say, Ariel would you like your breakfast?" If you even DARE call her Emma, she will shortly retort, "I'm not Emma. I'm Belle."

4. Anyone within the proximity of Miss Princess, must also be in full character at all times. When she is Ariel, Mom is Ariel's Friend and Dad is Flounder. When she is Bell, Mom is Mrs. Potts and Dad is the Beast. When she is Angelina Ballerina, Mom is Alice and Dad is Angelina's Dad. She will ONLY address us with our proper make believe names. Unfortunately for Greg, she is Belle quite often, and he is then the Beast about 98% of his day. She used to tell him that he was the "best Daddy in the whole wide world" - but this weekend she told him that he was the "best Beast in the whole wide world". I don't think he's crazy about his title, but he has slipped easily into his role and dances with her almost every night to the "Beauty and the Beast" theme song.

5. All music associated with referenced princesses must be played regularly and sung LOUDLY. No surprise to any of us that know Emma well, she quickly learned all of the words to her favorite princess songs and will sing them happily on demand for an audience (and chocolate bribery).

SCORE BOARD:

Emma - 1

Mom - 0