Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Elsa

Little girls desire little more than to be real, true princesses. Or so it seems.

This morning I watched my princess flip through Disney Roku to the same little video clips she's watched dozens of times now. Elsa singing 'Let It Go' in 25 languages, Demi Lovato belting out a not-as-good-as-the-original version, and a DIY tutorial on how to make your French braid look just like Elsa's.

Finishing a novel that just may be blogged about next, I sat and let my little Elsa impersonator do nearly painful things to my hair. Telling her in between pulls and ouches that perhaps I might buy her one of those Barbie heads that little girls can practice hairdos on. And I may, but I didn't fully mind her tangling with my hair. 

My love for the more recent Disney princess movies goes even deeper than hers. At sixteen, I was very much taken by the G-rated musical perfection of The Little Mermaid. I still have the well loved cassette tapes. This was followed by Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Wonderful, until grown-upness heaped alternate interests on my plate. And someone probably told me I should act my age...and then I did. Thank goodness I don't buy into such nonsense as acting my age anymore.

For a few seconds this morning I worried though. My little girl is not just playing Elsa. She IS Elsa at the moment. Oh gosh, what does this mean exactly? That she likes high heels and a very blond braid swung over her shoulder? That she enjoys fancy dresses and ice powers and the drama of it all?

Simply put...yes.

Frankly, while it's so adorable and entertaining, it's a little discouraging for this nearly-nerd mom to watch my
incredibly bright little girl be so much less than she is capable. I'm reasonably careful with what I offer her for toys. Blocks, tools, legos - she plays with them all. Plus she has an older brother, whom she idolizes.


However, she likes pink. She likes fancy. She LOVES drama.

I started to think back on all the things I've tried to be in my life. I'm a bit of a mix when it comes to people genres. I suspect we all truly are, although most of us lean more towards one than another. I thought about all of the proverbial outfits I've tried on. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, it is said. 

I suspect this little one will try on all kinds of hats over the years. She will choose some and I will encourage some, and people she hasn't even met yet will encourage others. All this trying on will make her who she is. Or maybe, more accurately, it will reflect who she IS.

And if she turns out to choose tiaras (literal or not so literal) over a scalpel or a computer then that's ok. As long as she's using her Gifts. By that I do mean her capital G Gifts - the ones God has given her that make her the ever so unique (and honestly, quite entertaining) person that she is. Blond wig and all.

I love her dearly and am so thankful that I have this lifetime to encourage her to be herself.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.   ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~Ephesians 2:10 


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