Meet the Princess

Everyone thinks meeting a queen is the ultimate honor, but have you ever met a true Princess?  I have, in fact, I gave birth to one!  I can’t say it was painful like most births since I am a wuss and requested the maximum pain med allowed she was a scheduled C-section, but everyday since has made up for the painless birth. Actually, she was an easy infant, if you consider having a milk protein allergy that causes you to puke for hours easy.  Or if you think her not pooping until you lay her gently in her crib and remove the diaper which caused many bouts of constipation…EASY, well, then she was easy.

Now she is 3 and THREE must be the magic number for her.  She is extremely bright-she has been saying the alphabet since she was 2, knows her colors, speaks in full sentences, has played her Nintendo DS since she was 18 months, knows when it’s Sissy’s bedtime yet not her own, knows when Little Man is doing something wrong but not when she is…oh wait, SHE doesn’t DO anything wrong!  She’s the PRINCESS!!  Well, let me tell you, this PRINCESS knows how to put up a fight when it comes to changing her diaper and/or her clothes.  She can kick, swing, scream and make even the tween run from the room to hide.  In fact, last night she ninja kicked me in the jaw and I saw stars and this was all over getting her pajamas on!!  We’ve tried letting her pick her own clothes/pajamas but then she just doesn’t want any.  I’m at a loss.  Do I just let her look like some homeless child ?  Not brush her hair, not change her clothes??  I think not!  So, it’s a daily ritual…she wakes up, I say let’s sit on the potty, she says “NOOO!”  I say “YESSSS!” and that’s where it begins.

Her little princess ass is gonna sit on that potty.  Now, as I’m wrestling with her to sit on the potty and she’s going all hysterical-toddler on me, picture Little Man who is 22 months old struggling to get his little britches off so he can pee on the potty!!  WTH?? 

Most of the time I win (yeah me!) because she sits on the potty, yet she wins too because she doesn’t pee!!  Then I get the diaper on her only for her to say “I’m not potty training”.  Then comes the fight about what to wear.  No, she doesn’t like that dress, those pants are yucky, that shirt is scratchy, and “I don’t like GREEN!”  We fight, and she kicks, and I try not to beat the living spit out of her so I leave her to make her decision on what to where. 

Then comes meal-time.   Drumroll please……I am a good Mom so I ask what she would like.  She would like “noodles”.  Ok, so I start boiling the water.  She would like a popsicle…I figure, why  not let her have one while we are waiting for the noodles?  Then she would like a Pop Tart….I’m getting disturbed now.  She’s insisting.  I give in only to find the Pop Tart uneaten in little pieces on the living room end table.  No big deal, she didn’t eat it, she didn’t ruin her meal, right?  Then she needs water, in a bowl, and a spoon….”please” she adds.  Oh….okay, why not?  She DID say “please”.

The water has boiled, the noodles are done.  I dish them out and tell her to sit at the table.  She gets up there, smoothes out her Princess jammies (no, she never got dressed), I put the noodles in front of her and she says, “That’s not SPAGHETTI!!!!”  And she won’t eat them…..”They are wagon wheels!!” I say.  “Everyone loves WHEELS!!!” She does not care.  The Princess meant spaghetti when she said noodles and I should have known this. 

And this goes on and on and ON with everything throughout the day.  She is so strong willed that she has not learned that the MOM rules this roost, NOT the toddler!!  The other night she begged for a bubble bath.  It was not bath night but I let her get on in there with loads of bubbles.  Then she said, “I didn’t want bubbles!”  WHAT???  Too bad, I say, she can wait until they go away.  I could have just made it a play bath, but no, for me, if you are in the tub, YOU GET WASHED.  (Sorry….personal issue of mine.) I get the shampoo, she starts her whimpering which is usually a precursor to the princess-wailing…I see her start to shrink away into the farther end of the tub where I can’t reach her because of the shower doors, but I catch her before she’s out of reach.  Here comes the wailing as I shampoo her hair, then it’s like I’m killing her as I rinse the bubbles out.  Ahhhhh…..we’re all good now.  She plays for a while, happy that the bubbles have disappeared.  The water gets cold and I try to get her out.  She screams and hollers and kicks and when I finally get her out thankfully without either one of us ending up with a black eye, she looks at me and says, “But I wanted a bubble bath!!!!”

Despite all the trials this Lil Lady puts me through, it’s worth it.  I’ve been blessed.  (yeah, I’m gonna get all serious and sentimental on you now)  My oldest is 12 years old and I had several pregnancy losses…..as well as the loss of my late spouse.  I was blessed to have remarried and even more blessed with 2 more children.  Wait…is that a blessing after 40??  Let me think on that a bit…..

And when the Lil Lady has moments like this….



….catching snowflakes on her tongue with the innocence of an angel….how can I not just love her to pieces??  How can I not forget all the trials and aggravation she has put me through??  This is when I sit back and smile and know that despite the heartaches in  my life, I AM BLESSED….there’s no doubt about it!
So, on that note, cherish your babies and every moment you have with them whether it’s good or it’s frustrating, because you know the love from your children is always unconditional, and it can’t be found anywhere but in their shining eyes, their silly smiles, their tender hugs,  and the ninja kicks they throw your way!