What would Princess Leia do?

ViolaMae is four years old today. She is wearing her new princess dress and behaving with royal aplomb and new maturity. Well, not every minute, but much of the time.

Vi is learning that a princess can be strong and assertive--think Princess Leia rather than Disney characters, pretty though they may be. Now that she's four, Vi knows that a princess can get more of what she wants with a declarative sentence ("I'd like more orange juice, please") than pretend baby-talk ("Thirsty!") or whining. A princess can wear a ball gown and play hard. 

Best of all, Vi could give other princesses lessons in being loving, kind, and generous. She nurtures dolls and toy animals and friends and relatives, and she dispenses hugs and kisses freely and sincerely. 

She enjoyed being center of attention during her special pre-birthday week here at Wild Rumpus Daycare. She and I spent a day playing with her new princess paper dolls, decorating the dresses with stick-on gems and having the princesses try them on. (I was impressed that today's paper dolls are made of sturdy cardboard, and the dresses have magnets behind them. But the dresses still slide off, just as the ones with little paper shoulder-tabs did when I was a kid. Go figure!)

Another day, as we buckled in for the drive to preschool, Augie asked, "Why are the bongo drums in the car?" With that, Peter handed the bongos to Augie, pulled out new maracas for Vi, and cued up the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil." For a few weeks they've been pretending to play along to the salsa beat, and this time they played real instruments. It was an awesome "Sympathy" symphony. (The lyrics are awfully dark; I think we will find other tunes that call for maracas.)

The big gift that Vi asked for is Olivia's house, the crown jewel of the Legos "Friends" series. These are the first Legos designed expressly for girls. They are attractive, but they are meant for kids with bigger hands, so Grandma does most of the building, and then Vi does most of the playing. A good balance, don't you agree?

Her party was this morning, and I had to miss it. I managed to fall yesterday afternoon--at the hairdresser's!--and twist my leg, which hurts like crazy from hip to toe. This coming week is our last week of daycare for the season and I want to be mobile for it, so I'm resting and icing. ViMae and her mom came to see us after I got home on my sore leg last evening, and she gave me lots of hugs and kisses to help make it better. They said if I had to miss the party, they'd understand. That's the kind of princess they both are. 

Happy Birthday, ViolaMae. May the Force be with you.

By the way, I just noticed that posts on Vi's second and third birthdays also show her in princess garb. She is consistent!