Published by Starfish
My husband and I have this mini-argument going on. He keeps wanting to call our 17-month-old daughter a "princess". That just makes me go "ick".
Why do I hate this so much? I have two reasons.
Reason 1: Everyone calls their little daughter(s) princesses (it's written all over little girls clothing and accessories), and my daughter will not be compared to other girls, and is also non-comparable to other girls, in my opinion. She is better (everyone thinks this about their children, but really never say it out loud, I am saying it now though). One time my husband suggested using the term "Queen", and I decided I could definitely live with that. Daughters of God are not princesses, but queens. I want my daughter to recognize herself as a daughter of her Heavenly Father.
Reason 2: I think part of the problem of this society is that every generation feels more and more entitled due to the selfishness that is being promoted to all of us. Somehow the term "princess" says they deserve to "boss around" and demand things they want or feel they need or deserve. They can throw tantrums and immediately we will be there to settle the tantrum down, giving in to them however they deem. The term "Queen" resembles an amount of responsibility, and ownership for actions. A queen works in her kingdom. Calling her "Queen" will give her something to live up to.
Honestly, I would rather just call her by her name or her cute nicknames we made up. But the whole point of this post was to express how much I detest the term "Princess". I honestly think my husband uses it just to get to me. He's a tease.
I understand what you are saying about the nicknames but I kinda like a playful way of letting a child know they are special and using a "pet name" is a good way to do it. Meanwhile, having the nickname princess may seem cliche it also infers that your little girl is like royalty. Candidly, I have to agree. She is like royalty. If you are the Queen of your home, then she is the princess. I like the idea of that.
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The term princess makes me think of pampered, a bit spoiled and demanding. I think it is a good name for a poodle. ...j
ReplyDeleteI've always seen princess as in the disney princesses, where you must be graceful and loving and kind to everyone and everything, etc. The only entitlement is Heavenly Father's Kingdom and you must meet your "prince" and marry in the "castle" first. We do call our daughter princess, but we use it on those terms and not the spoiled daddy's girl way. I think my daughter seems to understand that. We don't tolerate a bossy spoiled attitude from her.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see your point though, and your husband should stop teasing you and stick with the cute petnames you like.