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Our plucky princess is going places -- with or without a prince!

Posted May 26, 2009 by Mary Dixon Lebeau

I remember distinctly the day I heard my little princess singing to her Webkinz:

"Someday my prince will come,
Someday I'll find my love
And how thrilling that moment will be
When the prince of my dreams comes to me."

"Isn't that cute?" my husband commented between forkfuls of eggs, nodding toward the living room. Libby, dressed in a long skirt and some Mardi Gras beads, danced with a giraffe as she finished.

"Though he's far away, I'll find my love someday. Someday when my dreams come true..."

My husband smiled again, but inwardly I shuddered. In her innocent song, I heard the curse of the princess: Sure, you can be pretty and clever and helpful and good. You may even be smart, as long as you aren't too showy with it.

All those gifts are just fine, but the thing that will bring your life real meaning is that handsome prince, who will take you away to his castle on his white steed. Until then, you're only biding your time.

Oh, maybe this isn't blatant in every princess story. Some princesses certainly are plucky. They are brave when they have to be, industrious beyond imagination and always have a stiff upper lip in the face of adversary. So why don't any of them pursue a life after their prince shows up....or even (dare I say it?) consider being happy without a prince?

Not that there's anything wrong with a prince, of course. I have one of my own, and he's certainly made my life happier. But let's face it -- happiness and fulfillment has to come from within. You can't wait around for life to happen, and you can't depend on someone else to make you happy.  In the end, we're responsible for ourselves.

So, when I heard my princess start another verse, I decided to ask her a question. "What do you think Snow White was doing before the prince came along?"

Libby recited the fairy tale back to me. Then I asked, "But what else did she do?"

"What else?" she asked.

I thought fast. "Well, do you know why Snow White was so good with the dwarves?"  Libby shook her head.

"Well, she had gone to college. She studied education, so she was really good at teaching people things," I said.

Libby nodded. "Do you think she taught kindergarten?" she asked.

"Sure she did. She taught kindergarten in the castle, even after she rode away with the prince," I said, ad-libbing. "The children loved her and she loved her job. That's one of the reasons she lived so happily."

Libby's eyes were wide as she contemplated the secret life of her favorite princesses. "What about Belle, Mommy?" she asked.

I grinned as I speculated about Belle's life as a librarian, an inventor or a researcher. We spent the afternoon talking about what different princesses did to be happy -- even without a prince.

That night, I read the familiar ending in one of Libby's storybooks. "Then the handsome prince swept the beautiful princess off her feet, and they rode off on his white horse and lived happily ever after," I said.

"And the princess became a veterinarian, and took care of the horse," my daughter added -- because stories don't always end (or begin) when the prince shows up.