I wanted the pretty dresses, the tea parties, all the girly things. So when my daughter came along, I was thrilled. And apparently, I lost my mind.
I didn't know it then, but somewhere between the princess dresses, the Disney trips and a fake snow machine in my backyard, I was about to learn a hard parenting lesson: There's a fine line between giving your child everything you didn't have and teaching her to expect everything she wants. When she turned 4, she wanted a Frozen birthday party. She loved Anna more than Elsa, and she would not let it go.
What should have been cake and ice cream with a few preschoolers turned into Anna and Elsa performers singing songs, reading stories and crowning my daughter princess for the day. I had a fake snow machine. And her birthday present was a trip to Disney World.
I was strong in my mama game. The next year was a tea party with Belle and friends. Eventually, I looked around and realized Disney had far too many princesses, and my bank account didn't have enough zeros.
I had come in way too hot. At her age, I had cake, ice cream and one of those little pointy birthday hats. I didn't even get a McDonald's birthday party, which was basically the Met Gala for children in the 1980s.
But I wanted to give my daughter the things I didn't have. Isn't that what so many of us do as parents? We remember what we wanted, what we missed and what our parents couldn't afford, and when we finally have children of our own, we think: I'm going to give my baby more.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
