Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

I am beginning to suspect that I will soon need to embrace the idea of the princess. Recently, my daughter went to a princess birthday party and returned with a lot of princess-related material. She’s showing definite signs of princess-interest. Symptoms include twirling around in pretty dresses and loudly proclaiming, “Look at me! I am a princess!” Now, at the moment I don’t think that my preschooler has any clue what a princess is. The idea of royalty is completely foreign to her. I haven’t explained royal succession or government structures, nor have we even read books or movies that … Continue reading

Leaving Room for Preschool Messes

I am in awe of my neighbor’s home. Truly, it is a thing of beauty. She has two children, double the number I have, to be precise. Yet her living room is free of visible clutter, even when I walk in the door unexpectedly. Maybe she has a magic broom. I’m no hoarder, but my daughter’s stuff does threaten to take over our home regularly, I’d say more than once a day. In our living room we have a side table that holds dress ups, and many of the toys are collated in neat baskets in an Ikea cabinet. However, … Continue reading