Curiosity Killed the Cat

I’m going to start chronicling all the questions I get that I have to answer on the fly. For entertainment, and to help me remember which answers worked and which didn’t.

#1 How to explain away Ariel’s “dress”:

Q: “If you got legs at the end, why do you have a tail now?”
A: “It’s not a tail, it’s a dress. I miss having a tail so I like to wear dresses that remind me of being a mermaid!”

Why Do Sleeping Beauty and Mulan Get to Keep Both of Theirs?

Got the most awkward question today: “Belle, where is your Mom?”
Partying it up in Heaven with all the other Disney mothers, kid.

Oh Brother

In a two-for-one kind of deal, The Skeptic at this last party also doubled as The Brother character.

He was hesitant to greet me and address me as Princess Belle. He also had no qualms about voicing his disbelief of my past when I was reading the Beauty and the Beast story. He asked, “Did you REALLY do all that?” and squinted at me accusingly. Of course I did! Look, there are pictures right here of me talking to a dresser and drinking out of an enchanted tea cup! There was even a movie about it! Duh! (I said all that in one word! “Yes.”)

He also had reservations about me reading my own story and seemed to think it was a little self-centered of me, which I didn’t help by telling him it was my favorite. I mean, it does have far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells and a prince in disguise! ;)

I gotta give him props though. As doubtful as he was, he was sly about it and never spilled to beans to his little sister and her friends.

Still, he didn’t quite know how to act around me. It’s an odd confusion I see in a lot of kids at these parties. He was mature enough to think twice about this woman in a big dress who calls herself a princess, but also couldn’t (or wasn’t ready to) detach from the childish fantasy of it all. Can’t really blame him for wanting to keep that kind magic in his life. What I wouldn’t give to be 4 again and not be concerned with jobs that suck, cars that break down, and boyfriends that cheat on you! But to instead focus on princesses that fall in love, pumpkin’s that turn into carriages and princes that break spells with kisses. Sigh.

All that loveliness aside, it’s clear the 4-year-old Princess does have at least one major thing to worry about: The Brother. The Brother at the previous party staged a pirate attack on us, and this past lead a one man military ambush on me and my entourage during our “Princess Parade”. Neither were successful encounters for the boys (One little girl told me, “Hang on Belle, the machine gun is back”, and motioned for me to stay put while they chased him off!). Clearly pirates and army men are no match for princesses!
What do older brothers have against princesses anyway?

Word Around the Water Cooler Is That’s Not Ariel’s Real Haircolor

Sometimes at these parties I struggle to get through the story during storytime. The girls like to interrupt to point out favorite characters and parts of the story. This is more true with the younger ones of course. I’ve decided that with the littler ones, it’s more fun to just flip through the book and look at the pictures. It’s actually pretty adorable. They make all sorts of comments and sound effects. They correctly give horrified gasps when the villains pop up and happy squeals when the heroine and her prince are united.

They also ask cute questions. Like why I (Belle) didn’t marry Gaston and how did I (Ariel) feel about Ursula the Sea Witch stealing voice? I enjoy it because it lets me really get into character, which in turn makes the experience real for the girls. Like when they point out Chip, the talking tea cup from Beauty and the Beast, I get to recall what it was like to take a sip from a enchanted tea cup and say things like, “Can you imagine! A talking tea cup! I was startled when he giggled the first time I took a sip. It must tickle to be sipped don’t you think?” They laugh and I love it!

They also ask me about the other princesses. I feel like I’m gossiping when I talk about them. Cause you know, Belle is obviously all up in Snow White’s business so she knows whether or not the dwarfs live in the castle with her or not and if Cinderella still talks to her evil step-sisters. And I heard that Ariel and Prince Eric are in marriage counseling and Aladdin and Jasmine got their flying carpet reprocessed last week. Ok so maybe I don’t go that far but it still feels like gossip!

Not that I condone gossip, but it’s not like Sleeping Beauty is ever going to find out what Cinderella said about her. And talking about the characters instead of trying to read the story is more fun anyway. Plus, as many of them drone, they already KNOW the story…