Nanny here- MB and DB are hipsters (but I still love them haha!!) and did everything they could to avoid the princess phase and anything pink or purple. The poor baby was dressed in mustard and olive and brown and stripes until she went to school. No tv and nothing princess. Well once she went to preschool at age 4 she discovered the princess craze and the parents still tried to make it all go away. Refused the princess dress up and BDay cake requests and would t let her have any of the books or dolls people have DC for her BDay. Well now DC is 8 and still obsessed with princess and will only wear pink and purple. She's actually more obsessed about the princesses than any kid I've ever looked after. What you resist, persists and it's pretty much the parents fault.

My 4 years old is not into princess stuff or anything girly for that matter. She has alway chosen to play with "boy" stuff, even before going to preschool and being intoduced to other things. At a young age she always loved trains, trucks, dinosaurs, etc. When she started preschool she just gravitated towards being friends with the boys and started to like what they like...spiderman, batman etc. I just follow her lead and try not to make a big deal about it.

Anonymous wrote:What if a daughter were into "boy" sports? Or skateboarding? Or anything involving dirt?

We'd say "Let her be interested in what she wants. Let her be who she is." Why is it any different with princesses?

False equivalency. It's commonly understood that the princess stories carry messages that girls are to be docile, meek, submissive. That's what parents object to.

Anonymous wrote:As for the PP who noted that her DD was hung-ho princesses, until all her friends latched onto fairies, and now princesses are for "babies" . . . . UGH.

That's just the kind of blind group think / follow the fad or fashion / peer conformity that I had hoped we could steer our DD away from.

It's not "Follow the fad or fashion." Kids go through obsessions. Lots of them. They are all naturally OCD. You will hear for 2-3months, all about dinosaurs, or worms, or trucks, or dogs, or fairies. All about them. Everything. Day and night. You will all gain an encyclopedic knowledge. Then suddenly, one day, it is as if that obsession never existed. Because space, or domes, or Shrek, or whatever, fills every waking hour.

My 3.5 year old daughter is a princess freak and is heavy into all things pink and purple.

She's currently watching Beauty and the Beast on loop and we're visiting Disney next month for her birthday.

This phase doesn't last long (I have 13 & 17 yo DDs), so I embrace the cuteness of it all!

What if a daughter were into "boy" sports? Or skateboarding? Or anything involving dirt?

We'd say "Let her be interested in what she wants. Let her be who she is." Why is it any different with princesses?

No, not all little girls go through this phase.

Neither of my DDs cared for Disney or other princesses. Not sure if this was just their personalities or in part because we watched almost no tv and avoided exposure in general.

Anonymous wrote:This is not something you need to "manage." They are fully formed human beings who are entitled to be interested in and like whatever they like. However, you are the parent, so you are entitled to buy or not buy things that she may ask for, and you can steer your family members towards other gifts.

+1

It's not something to be worried about or something to be proud about if your DD doesn't want to be a princess. I put no more stock in my DD's recent declaration that she wants to be a vet that I did when she wanted to be a princess ballerina 6 months ago. They are exploring and having fun at an age where society doesn't judge them for doing so.

Nope. Wish I could at least tame it a little, but if your daughter is in daycare, school, or around other little girls at all, she is going to hit the princess phase. My daughter has never seen a Disney movie (she is only 3), but princesses were on pull ups, and in books at daycare, and the Halloween costumes of her friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of daughters, if you managed to avoid the craze of all things princess, disney, etc... how did you do it? Or, if they became interested then why, how and what did you do to manage it?

I didn't and it ran its course. Yours will too. It's really not the end of the world. And, it doesn't mean your daughter will grow up thinking she's Cinderella. It's fun for them and my DD did lots of imaginative play while playing princess. Relax.

+1
As a friend of mine with 3 girls told me "the sooner you embrace it, the sooner they get over it." That proved to be true.

As for the PP who noted that her DD was hung-ho princesses, until all her friends latched onto fairies, and now princesses are for "babies" . . . . UGH.

That's just the kind of blind group think / follow the fad or fashion / peer conformity that I had hoped we could steer our DD away from.

This is not something you need to "manage." They are fully formed human beings who are entitled to be interested in and like whatever they like. However, you are the parent, so you are entitled to buy or not buy things that she may ask for, and you can steer your family members towards other gifts.

Anonymous wrote:Parents of daughters, if you managed to avoid the craze of all things princess, disney, etc... how did you do it? Or, if they became interested then why, how and what did you do to manage it?

I didn't and it ran its course. Yours will too. It's really not the end of the world. And, it doesn't mean your daughter will grow up thinking she's Cinderella. It's fun for them and my DD did lots of imaginative play while playing princess. Relax.

We have one DD, still too young to have hit this phase yet.

I personally don't care if she develops an interest in fairy tales and princesses. What does bother me is the focus on appearances/waiting to be rescued/etc. As PPs mentioned there are princess books and stories that draw focus away from those things.

It does bother me a little that for birthdays/Christmas she ends up getting toy purses, toy makeup, books about princesses, etc. But she has 2 older brothers and I give her stuff that I'll know she'll like regardless of how pink or not pink it is so I think she'll have enough balance.

My DD has all brothers and went to preschool with all boys. We had no girls toys because thats not what anyone played witH. One day just before she turned three she woke up and loved all things princess and refused to wear anything but pink and purple. Honestly, I don't really care. She can like what she likes. And she hasn't given up playing cars with her brothers. She still won't wear jeans though.