As a mom of 3 boys I was totally fine with not having to meet any princesses at Disney World, go to a tea party at the Grand Floridian, or make reservations at Cinderella’s Castle.  I would do it if any of my boys ever expressed interest, but they are too worried about going on rides and in the pool.  I actually felt sorry for all of my friends who had to do the “girl stuff” and would cringe at the thought of an experience at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

In case it isn’t totally clear, I am not really a girly girl.  I would rather workout or go out to eat than shopping any day of the week.  My nails are rarely painted, I barely brush my hair, and sometimes my outfits don’t always match.  And I’m ok with that.

However, when we found out baby number 4 was on the way we decided to get the blood test at 10 weeks that revealed the gender.  GIRL.  There it was, right on the email, staring at me.  I almost couldn’t believe it.  Was I excited?  Of course.  Was I nervous?  Heck yeah.  A girl?  What would this mean for me?  I would have to really hone my girl skills of doing hair and actually caring what outfits go together.

But then it hit me: DISNEY.  Holy cow, what was I going to do about Disney? Now I was really starting to panic.  I was going to have to make an appointment for $50 so my kid can get hairspray with glitter and then probably get suckered into buying another princess dress and whatever else they have available.  I wasn’t going to be able to go on Big Thunder because I would be meeting Cinderella, Belle, and the twenty other princesses that I was going to have to learn the names of.  This was going to be torture.

Fast forward to last weekend when I took my 15 month old, princess Brooke, to the Magic Kingdom in her Sleeping Beauty costume (credit to my dear friend Melissa).  At first I was calling the dress the wrong princess, then I didn’t realize that Aurora and Sleeping Beauty were the same person, but I think I have that one straight now.

Ok, back to my original revelation.  I dress my little princess up and we go to the Magic Kingdom and now I can’t even contain myself with how adorable she looks.  I’m wondering how she will react when she meets Ariel.  I had been brainwashing her (like any good Disney mom does, come on) by having her watch the songs from the Little Mermaid and giving her an Ariel figure to hold.

So we get in line and she is starting to fuss a little, and I’m thinking, ah forget it she’s going to cry and not know what to do.  I start singing the songs in her ear to get her to understand what the heck is going on.  And then this happened:

To the average person this picture is just a baby in a dress with Ariel.  But to me this picture is everything.  I scooped her up after watching her sit with Ariel smiling and found my heart beating out of my chest with joy for her.  And for me.  I wanted to burst into tears of happiness.  Where were all of the other princesses!?  We needed more!!  We need Cinderella’s Castle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  We need 5 more princess dresses and a fast pass to Bibbidi Bobbidi!  CALLING ALL GIRLY THINGS AT DISNEY!  Grand Floridian tea party here we come!

I am hooked.  Thank GOD I have a girl.  Seriously.  To anyone I ever told I didn’t need a girl, that three boys fulfilled me, I apologize.  I am a liar.  A big, fat phony.  I might not have ever wanted a girl, just a healthy baby, but now that I have her I know she is what I have needed all along.  As she gets older she will probably help motivate me to brush my hair and get my nails done more often.  Until then, I’m trying to find all the princess stuff I can get my hands on.  Disney is not going to know what hit it.

by Ellen Volpe – Co-Owner of ET Family Travel