Friday, February 18, 2011

The errant prince

It's tough to be a prince these days. Especially when the monarchy is headed by a three-and-a-half year old girl.

Prince Charming joined us last Christmas. He was basically an accessory to the Cinderella doll Santa gave to Sydney. Little did we realize at the time what a critically important role he would play in Sydney's fairy tale world. As it turns out, he has become... drumroll please... the token male.


We've discovered that it's fairly inexpensive to purchase other princesses, and so Cinderella has gained Sleeping Beauty and Ariel (the Little Mermaid) as friends. But their male counterparts can only be purchased as part of sets that cost upwards of $25. And so that's created a problem. As Sydney says, "We need another boy."

Thankfully, the other princesses have been gracious in sharing the Prince. Ariel seems to be the favorite at the moment. Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but Sydney likes the redhead best, which means that's who the Prince likes best, too.

All this catering to multiple princesses has been taxing on Mr. Charming. Two weeks ago his legs broke off. Specifically, the plastic piece that held the legs in place got cracked. A very intricate surgical process followed, and I'm happy to report the Prince is almost good as new. Sydney now thinks Super Glue can fix anything.

But the risks of royalty didn't end there. Earlier this week, Prince Charming disappeared. Remembering the lessons of the Little Unicorn, I first checked Sydney's coat pocket, but he wasn't there. He'd apparently accompanied Sydney and Daddy on a variety of errands last Tuesday. Both Jeff and I dug through the truck, but both came up empty. As gently as possible we told Sydney her Prince was still missing.

A few hours later, at work, I got an e-mail from Jeff. The subject line was "Fairy tales come true." From her carseat, Sydney had spotted something.

Great joy in the kingdom! Prince Charming has been found! How exactly did he get from Sydney's clutches in the back seat into the center console at the front of the car? My guess is Jeff set him there while cleaning up the taco he'd foolishly thought Sydney could eat while riding in the car.

But that's a story for another day.

1 comment:

  1. I love that picture Dana! I am glad you found your prince!

    My boys love Imaginext toys which are about that same size. A couple years ago, Fisher Price came out with "Precious Places," which we call "Girl Imaginext." I think you can still find princess/prince combo packs at Kmart in West Duluth. If not, keep the super glue handy!

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