KayTar broke my heart a bit yesterday when I was getting her ready for school. When it was time to put on her glasses and hearing aid she said, "But princesses don't have glasses and ears (hearing aid)!" Oooof, my heart. Poor dearie, it was easier when she didn't notice those things. Of course I told her that princesses can and do wear those things, but at age 3 what mom says doesn't matter nearly as much as what she sees in her Disney Princess book. Damn you Disney and your princesses with 20/20 vision and average hearing thresholds. Heh. I didn't really think we'd be struggling with body image and the media quite this early. Of course, I did some searching around and found one book with a bespectacled princess, but not much else. Why not? Boys with glasses looking for a superhero to adore have both Clark Kent and Peter Parker. Superman AND Spiderman! Girls? Nothing. Not even the bookish Belle wears glasses. There has to be a market here, my three year old cannot be the first child to declare her daily accessories deem her unfit for princessdom. It also reminded me of a couple of years ago when BubTar told a classmate, "I only want friends WITHOUT glasses." I remember crying when he told me that, crying for his poor little classmate and his mom, and for my KayTar who would one day be the kid who looked a little different. At the time she only had her little purple ear, but she's got the glasses, too. Now we've arrived at the day when she realizes it makes her different.
The day got better, though, because after school her teacher told me she pooped on the potty! ON THE POTTY AT SCHOOL! This is the stuff mommybloggers dream of, no? I told her if she can use the potty every day at school, then she can get some fancy new pull-ups (with Dora Who Isn't Deaf or The Princesses of Excellent Eyesight on them, I'm sure) and she hugged me and said, "You LOVE me, Mommy!" and then giggled maniacally. I wouldn't usually think of disposable underpants as a symbol of my love, but there you have it. The three year old mind is highly entertaining.
As further evidence that a three year old mind is highly entertaining, I leave you with a couple of recent quotes from KayTar:
While driving to camp,
"And I will wear a costume and it will be a blue dress and I will be Cinderella Blue and I will be the Highness of Style."
While staying with my parents,
K: I'm going to buy a pink car.
Josh: But where will you get the money?
K: I take it from G's room!
She had been snatching change from my mother's bedside table. Sneaky (and honest) little thief.
35 comments:
The Highness of Style, indeed!
That would break my heart a little too Kyla. One of the things that I love about E's school is the fact that there are 7 deaf or hoh kids in his class and a few of them also wear glasses. It's neat for me to too, to see other kids with aids and glasses :-)
i should take pictures of all my friends who wear glasses and then have them put princess crowns on! we could make it into a book for k. wouldn't that be fun?
Dora Who Isn't Deaf!
Snort.
C, who is 4, goes to speech classes and has been for about a year now. He wonders why none of the other kids from his class (at preschool) have to go to this class. It's amazing how early they begin to notice and categorize differences and it breaks my heart when I try to explain why he has to go to the class. Luckily, I have not heard from him or his regular teachers that he has been teased about it - more like he has clued in that he is going but no one else is...interesting, no?
The highness of style!!! Hee hee!!! Oh I love that.
But, her princess "differences" are so sad. It kinda bugs me to how Clark Kent and Peter Parker only where their glasses when they're regular dorky guys...when they're in costume somehow they have perfect (and even xray) vision. :(
She is ALWAYS the Highness of Style to us! Glasses and ears are special accessories and only the most special princesses get to wear.
Those evil Disney Princesses - why are they like crack for three year olds? Gosh, I dread the day when Zoe notices her differences too.
I do love Kay-Tar! And she is a princess. YEah on the Potty!
Oh, but there's so much that's wrong with those Disney princesses. Even if KayTar sure makes a cute under the sea one.
Oof, she broke my heart a little bit too. You're so right, we NEED more bespectacled princesses!
she already is the highness of style.
What a beautiful Ariel! Definitely the Highness of Style. I hadn't really thought about it, but you are so right about the girl "heroes" and princesses ... we need more variety for our girls to relate to. Lainey came home from school talking about Barbies the other day - I am not prepared for her to be into Barbies at such a young age. Talk about an unrealistic ideal to screw with your body image!
am working on special needs dora and princess underpants
nothing a sharpie cannot fix!
I want to come and wrap my arms around all of you. My heart broke a little when I read this too, but at the same time, it swelled.
looks like a princess to me too! My friend's little girl, who likes to go "commando" states that "princesses do not wear underwear!" and ariel defintely does not, as she does not have legs!
I actually started looking around for you in hopes we could find a princess book and she had glasses or a hearing aid.
I think she is a stunning princess if you ask me.
Hah! "The Highness of Style!" I love it.
And yes, mommy bloggers have the BEST subjects to write about :-)
You forgot Harry Potter. XD He actually needs his glasses too; Clark Kent doesn't and I'm not sure if Peter Parker does.
As for girls with glasses... oh, I know! Sailor Mercury of Sailor Moon fame wears glasses, at least in the later seasons, and she's a princess!
...yeah, I got nothin'. ^^ I guess KayTar wouldn't be up for playing Chrono Trigger! Lucca's been one of my favorite characters since 1996 and she has glasses, but while KayTar would be able to read the game text just fine, I think she's a little young to comprehend a time-travel plot. Which is really too bad, Lucca wears this weird helmet that covers one ear and you could totally say she has a hearing aid inside it. ;-)It even has a visible microphone! (Actually, it really COULD be a hearing aid...)
There was a Smurf movie with a completely deaf character, but I haven't seen that since about 1988, so that's seriously all I remember.
She is my new fashion plate...
If there has never been a spectacled princess before, then I nominate KayTar as Princess of the People of Her Royal Blogosphere. we will all bow at the tiny feet of her royal highness.
She is completely perfect...one hundred percent, just like she is.
I teach 7/8 year olds. It seems every year I have a little girl who is concerned about being pretty--or that she's not pretty because she's a little chubbier than the others. How I wish I could single-handedly change our culture's perception of beauty or desireable-ness.
The "Highness of Style" comment has to be the comment of the year. She is just so funny!
I've also never realized that about the princesses. I think the people at Disney need to do something about this!
OMG, the highness of style has spoken! Heed her words, oh ungrateful minions!
She is such a riot!
i think you could make a lot of money writing that book, Kyla. A whole SERIES of books!
she just makes me smile
Take heart - those glasses are still new, but they will, over time, become so much a part of her that they won't bother her. I started wearing glasses at three as well, with eyepatches no less, and well before pirates became cool, but eventually, they are just an extension of yourself you don't think twice about. Truly, it will work out.
She totally looks like a princess in that picture!
magpie got my words, exactly.
And I think there is a huge opportunity here for you and Kaytar. Write the book, write it! Do it for her, for you and every other kid who needs to see themself. Write the book, dammit! I can see it now. I know you can do it!
Have I mentioned, write the book! I see it finished already, on a shelf, waiting.
She's a beautiful princess for sure!
THE HIGHNESS OF STYLE. I love Kaytar. She's funny and so are you.
I TOTALLY get how it would hurt your mama heart. But, if it makes you feel better lots of little girls go through this, "There's not a princess that looks like me?" thing. For example there hasn't been an African American Disney Princess yet either. What does that say about how much things haven't changed?
HURRAY for Kaytar going Potty! She's not just a princess she's AWESOME.
Damn straight what with Disney and their sense of reality. Even their darker skinned princesses have features like a whitey.
its not fair. I am going to go to our social justice bookstore in the hood (yes, we have one I kid you not), and find some alternative princess books for her.
Loving the accessories to boot! Those quotes cracked me up..
Jodie Foster was recently photographed with a hearing aid, and has worn glasses for a while now - she was in Nim's Island, along with so many Disney movies it's difficult to believe.
I just came over via Jenny/Bloggess's Chron story, and I have to say your little girl is the very sweetest princesses I have ever seen.
Totally a princess.
Love the picture!
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