Princess camp

I was intrigued to read Wannabe Hippies blog this week and see her post about Princess camp. Wannabe (aka Elaine) is a paid up member of the feministe party with a womens study minor under her belt. Princess camp? Seriously? is this for real? Do we do Princess Camp here? What the hell goes on at Princess camp? So many princessy questions. Gotta Google princess camp. Now this is not to criticise Elaine and her choices, its just that I heard it first from her and when someone like Elaine sends her princess to speciality camp, you know some serious 'oh my god am i really doing this' mountain has been ascended and it probably involved somewhere along the way, the joys of a small girl, the waving of a magic wand in her plastic pink heeled slippers, lots of sparkles, a tiara and a tear or two; oh the peer pressure. Her post and a trip this week to pick up some emergency sleep wear for the boy made me realise that i had left the world of serious fluff, hairclips and requests for mini-bra's behind (oh, dont get me started on the politics of of tweeny-bras! ) as i waded around in some very ugly brown stuff printed up with mac trucks and soccerballs and ALOT of pink fru. Ratio of 'boys' clothes to 'girls', about 1:10. Genderless, umm... huh?

So i Googled Princess camp.

Hosted by our own charming Cinderella, Belle and Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, our week long camps are filled with all of the magical things Princesses dream of! Each day features enchanting and fun filled activities with our Princesses. We'll take care of the Princess essentials; nothing is more important than self esteem and confidence so each day will begin with our Mirror Mirror Ceremony, a feel good excercise for all of us. We'll cover what every princess needs to know from kissing frogs to sleeping on a pea, through interactive stories, puppet play, dress- up play, arts & crafts and music. Who can forget our Enchanting Princess Graduation Ceremony. We'll spend the day before polishing little fingers, experimenting with fragances and light make up and then its off to our dreamy Gown Shoppe where a Ball Gown will be chosen for this very special ceremony. Parents, siblings and special guests are invited to join us for Graduation and Tea where we'll share Princess cakes, iced tea and pink lemonaide. Don't forget your camera

You still there?

it brought back memories of this womens studies minor vigourously vacuuming quite a few dolls plastic high heels and handbags over the years *oops, nevermind* (coveted birthday gifts from schoolfriends) and hearing them fly up the metal hose with a satisfying rattle. I didnt read the girls any fairytales either or do the Disney movie thing when they were little, all that 'happily ever after' particularly coming from a single parent seemed a little contradictory and promoting the prince charming concept just a little outdated, instead we did the ante-fairytale of The Paperbag Princess; princess tells prince to leg it if he only likes her for her image. Mind you, not having read the 'originals' the point kind of passed them by.LOL Its a minefield swathed in pink tulle out there.

im looking forward to the pitfalls and challenges of mindfully raising a boy. I would welcome any tips.