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.
36 comments
I think it;s so sweet that she looks up to her dad like that. He sounds like an awesome dad.
I like to poke fun of my hubby a lot on here, but the truth is he is a great husband and father. I hope our daughter is lucky enough to find a man like him one day. 🙂
Aww, this truly sounds like my two with Kevin here. Seriously, I have the same hope though that they also realize that a real prince is someone that does stuff like Kevin does for me or them. So, beautifully said 🙂
Thank you, Janine. Those girls sure do love their daddies. Let’s hope that this is what our daughters strive for when they get older.
She is pretty!! A father’s love is as important to a child’s emotional development for sure. He sounds like a great dad!
Thank you. I am very blessed.
How adorable.. sounds like you got a great dad there! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you.
Very cute.. we never really had that phase with my daughter.. and yes her prince should just do things for her out of love and respect.
That is good. The princess phase has taken over. Lol
You’re very right on this one. I don’t think we realize what real love is until we get older.
I used to be a bit to caught up in romance as portrayed on TV and in books. It is true as I grew older, I realized it was fiction and that real love is so much more.
This is wonderful, and you are so right! I hope my daughter looks for a man like her dad too 🙂
🙂 Thank you. I hope we both get our wish.
Its brilliant that she admires her daddy so much, I think when she grows up any boyfriend is going to have a lot to live up to!
Yes he will! He better live up to it too if he wants to be worthy of my girl. Lol
Looks like your daughter and husband have an amazing relationship, that’s awesome. A girl should always look up to her dad, my daughter does.
Love the father daughter relationship. I learned about being a prince from my awesome dad, and love that my girls have a great example in their father, too. …plus, it’s nice that this princess doesn’t need to get up to ease a crying child at 3am
There is NOTHING more attractive than a man who changes a diaper at 3 am! Beautiful post!
It is SO much work sometimes and so easy at others. It’s fun to let little girls have their easy dreams while they can though. 🙂
This is so sweet.
Awww! How sweet! He sounds like a wonderful dad!
Aw, I love this!!! Daddies and their daughters <3
Awww! So sweet! He sounds like a wonderful dad.
So true! Your little Princess is adorable by the way!
Aw, so sweet!!
That is super sweet. My dad will definitely always have a special place in my heart as I’m sure my daughter’s dad will always be in theirs.
You’re right about the prince. That is a great definition of what a prince can be, and she’s lucky to see that in her dad. 🙂
Your family is so beautiful!
She is so lucky to have such a sweet daddy!
My goodness, you princess looks so cute & adorable. Usually most girls are Daddy’s girls & it is the case with my daughters too. Your husband is definitely one of those wonderful dad’s who cares so much.
What a beautiful post, and love all of the points that you’ve made! WHAT! John Cusack isn’t going to show up outside of my window??!!! All my fairy tale dreams have been dashed…lol. When I was younger, I was hoping for a Sixteen Candles kind of romance. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen to me either.
This is extremely sweet. He sounds like a fantastic dad. And yes real love is flawed and takes a lot of work.
Cute post. Oh boy, Disney is doing a job on young girls. I wish there were princesses who could rely on real men and princesses who didn’t need a prince to rescue them.
I do appreciate the change, however slight, that Disney has done in their story telling. It was refreshing when Cristof in Frozen was questioning Anna’s judgement when he discovered she’d gotten engaged to a man she had met that very day. I also appreciated how the act of true love did not involve a kiss from a prince that had just laid eyes on the beautiful princess, but an act of self sacrifice motivated my love.
I liked that as well. I think that is why Brave is my favorite of the Princess movies. There is no romance in that one, just a story about a mother & daughter.