Like many young girls, my daughter is caught up in the fairy tale world of princesses and princes. She parades around our home in her princess dresses and tiaras almost every day. “Princesses don’t wear pants, mama.” They do however, wear gowns & sneakers like it is their job.
Lately, she has been bringing her father into her world of make believe.
“Prince, prince, where are you prince?”
“Prince, please get me some juice.”
Her prince is always happy to oblige.
I think about this fairy tale world that she lives in right now. In these stories the prince is always dashing and handsome with great hair, a sparkling smile and the ability to slay dragons. It is love at first sight. True love is portrayed with song and dance routines and of course everyone always lives happily ever after.
In the real world if you went around singing & dancing, they might have you committed. Love is seldom at first sight & that dashing prince might be a wise cracking bald guy. Not every relationship is a whirlwind romance, but that does not mean that it is not a great love story. The man that wins your heart might not be handsome or dashing, but he makes your heart skip a beat. In a real fairy tale the prince & princess have their ups & downs. They fight, they make up. You might not get a happy ending. You might get left with a broken heart. Life is not a fairy tale.
I hope that as you get older, you realize that real love is not what you read in your story books or see in the movies. There are no big dramatic gestures. John Cusack will not be outside of your window holding up a boom box. There will not be a mail box full of love letters from Ryan Gosling. Real love is flawed, it takes work. It requires communication, patience & understanding.
Real princes are men like your father. They clean off your car when it snows outside. They make supper when you are running late. They get up in the middle of the night to change poopy diapers and they are great fathers. Prince Charming may have slayed a dragon, but he never slept on the floor at the foot of his sick daughter’s bed. That’s a real prince.