As the mother of an almost six year old girl who went through a real hot and heavy phase with all things pink and princess, I must admit I have come to loathe the princess shtick. Not because I am an evil curmudgeon but frankly because the princess play of today is very different than when I was a wee lass. Back in yesteryear when I was a kidlet, playing princess did not seem to involve spending oodles of cash, granted my folks had very little cash but seriously I had to use my imagination to play princess, there was not a ready made pantheon of Disney Princesses for me to emulate. A few years back my views on princesses changed when I quickly saw how the princess had became a marketing brand, for more check out this book.
Anyhoo, now that the girl child is in kindergarten, it seems that the princess play is decreasing to some degree. So imagine my surprise last night when my girl told me that her teacher Ms. L had told the kids in class yesterday how a real life prince and princess were getting married today! Insert evil Mama Eye blink, in case you didn’t know that would be Prince William (progeny of Prince Charles and the much beloved and deceased Princess Diana) and his lady love Kate Middleton. So of course my girl asked if we could watch the real Prince and Princess getting married. Nope, because the only thing that will get me up at 4 in the morning is death, fire and maybe a sick kid.
So while we didn’t get up at 4am our time to watch the royal nuptials it appeared many folks did at least on my Twitter feed which I checked into at 8 am or so. It’s funny because all week online I have heard folks say no way they would check out the royal wedding so imagine my surprise when it looked like everyone but me had been watching this royal wedding! Not even my Facebook was immune where most of my real life buddies apparently had decided to check out the wedding. I admit the kid and I turned on the telly before she went to school but all we saw was the now married couple heading off someplace…don’t ask me where I didn’t watch so I don’t know. The girl child was happy to have a glimpse at the real life couple for a second since she said after looking at them for a moment, I could change the channel. Guess the real life prince was not nearly dashing enough for her refined five year old palate.
However all the royal talk got me thinking about the fact that for as many women, especially mothers of young girls loathe all things princess we are often unable to turn away? I suppose the American media knew this hence why hundreds of journalists were sent over to cover this story. As women do we deep down no matter what still dream of our prince? Or as one of my tweeps said maybe the attraction of seeing this couple wed is simply to take a few minutes out of our hectic lives to see beauty, to just stand in a beautiful moment. I have been sitting here this morning reflecting on the fact that maybe what drew us in is that weddings no matter if they are royal or not represent hope, new beginnings and new possibilities. I have married two times, the first time at 18, in secret in front of a justice of the peace…hell I didn’t even have a ring. The second wedding was a small intimate affair where my brother walked me down the aisle and my father actually performed the service. Yet each time the wedding symbolized new hopes and dreams, while the first marriage crashed and burned after take off, the second one is hanging n there.
So I wish Kate and Wills all the best in their new life together though Wills I gotta say you are starting to look an awful lot like your Pops, hopefully you are more charming. For the rest of us, lets look for the beautiful moments every day in our lives. Next time you are up at 4 am, get ready to watch the sun rise, now that is a truly beautiful moment. Have a great weekend!
