My daughter hates princesses. She’s 5, and surrounded at school by my pretty pony, Cinderella, even Barbies are strutting their anatomically crazy disproportional bodies into the classroom. Cate is curious about the whole princess thing but rather then focusing on the dresses and glass slippers, Cate wants to understand the origin of Cinderella’s name. Every Cinderella book you read has a little bit of a different story. Trust me I’ve read seven versions…this year. One version starts off telling you that Cinderellas name is actually Ella. She earned the prefix Cinder from her stepmother due to her getting dirty from the cinders that she cleaned out of fireplaces. So Cate wants to stop there and understand what this cinder thing is. Why is she getting dirty? Is it her cleaning technique or simply that the stepsisters build such raging bonfires that the mess left behind is impossible to successfully clean without dirtying your clothes. Disney doesn’t go into detail so I’m forced to spend bedtime speculating. This is Cates’ depth of princess knowledge until this weekend. The other night I said lovingly “goodnight my sweet princess” when she let out a scream and responded “mom I hate princesses,” to which I said “what would you like me to say?”… “Good night my sweet Star Wars,” was her emphatic request. I decided not to get into the fact that Star Wars was not a person, rather a philosophical battle in which the heros have their faith challenged shattered and restored….. lights out time seems like the wrong time to go into that explanation. As I laid in bed thinking about my daughters request to know something other than princesses, I decided to fuel the interest by purchasing her a Star Wars Lego sticker book. I figured this was a safe, inexpensive place to start exploring her new interest, rather then the $399 millinieum falcon lego set. So that afternoon we sat down on the playroom floor and started to flip through the hundreds of stickers. First we completed the Anikin page. There are 10 different varations of Anikin. So many random things I learn as a mother and I never thought I would ever know. For instance, thanks to my son, I’m a construction equipment expert. I don’t drive down the street saying things like “look at the truck!” it’s more like “look at the front loader fitted with hydraulic grabs and spikes! They must be using it for bale and silage handling.” And now I’m learning the rights of passage that Anikin Skywalker passed through inevitably succumbing to the dark side and becoming one of the most feared villains in the history of storytelling. Onto Princess Leia…I’m thinking what a perfect female role model. Strong, independent, intelligent, and yet shows her female side by falling in love with the fun-loving, masculine Han Solo, let’s face it, Luke Skywalker is kind of a wimp, oh and her brother. OK Cate, pay attention, this is a princess you could really learn something from. And finally we come to Celebration Leia. Here she is in her formal attire. “Mom, she’s going to a party,” exclaims Cate, “and look, she’s going to a party and bringing a gun….looks like it’s her big gun!’ So yes, the lesson of the day – If you’re going to a party, bring your gun…and make sure it’s your big one.

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