Princesses Play Video Games
This is part of my #TeachHerTuesday series.
Bedtime chat is probably one of my favorite times with my girl. Yes, sometimes we talk well past her bedtime because I'm a sucker for the things she says.
Frog Princess: Mami, sometimes I feel like I have an invisible crown on my head.
Me: that's because you do.
Frog Princess: really?
Me: yes. you're a princess, after all.
Frog Princess: are you sure. I mean, I don't think princesses like to play video games.
And here is where I have to sit back on my feminist haunches and think quick. I've called her a princess since she could hold up her own head. For me, the meaning is beyond the frills that we see on TV. It speaks to her place on God's earth because she is His child. It speaks to her place in her parents' hearts.
Related Post: Teaching Her to Find Her Roar
But beyond that, just as I am redefining the word "mamihood" for my child, I hope to redefine the word "princess". So I continue.
Me: excuse me?! Do you play video games?
Frog Princess: yes.
Me: are you a princess?
Frog Princess: yes.
Me: so that means that princesses do play video games. End of story! Princess are and can do whatever they like!
Related Post: Watering the Flower: Helping My Daughter Embrace Her Beauty
In the recesses of my mind I wonder how much trouble I'm causing. How much of this might lead to entitlement. I like to think that I ground her. That we have compassionate conversations as well as empowering ones and that they are rarely mutually exclusive.
Prior to this coming up, she told me she didn't want to go to middle school because teenagers were mean. Not entirely sure where she made this assessment as we are rarely, if ever, around teens. I explained that was sometimes true but that teens were sometimes going through a hard time and they had a weird way of showing it. Long story short: she demanded that I home school her when she's older. I told her I'd be holding her to it. And she told me that even if she forgot, I was supposed to run with this request.
That got us into a journaling discussion and, of course, she'll be getting her own journal this week.
All in a night's work. The chat ended with a stern "it's past your bedtime" from me and lot of sleepy hand grabs and touches, kisses and declarations of love. From the both of us.
And all because princesses play video games and Mamis validate their daughter's worth.
What bedtime conversations capture your mind and your heart?
Want to read more in the series? Check out Teaching Her to Be True to Her Heart