How Can You Use the Cinderella Effect to Teach Your Daughters About Life

Photo taken from princess.disney.com

My girls LOVE Cinderella. I grew up loving Cinderella. What girl doesn't want be Cinderella.

After I had my oldest, I really didn't know if I wanted to expose my daughters to the Disney Princess culture. Are we really teaching them reality? I started out trying to keep my daughter shielded from that Princess culture but by the time she was two, I couldn't keep her shielded anymore.

The next two years I started realizing that there are great lessons to learn from these movies and my job as mom isn't always to shield but instead teach.

What I call the Cinderella effect is the idea that the boy and girl will meet and fall in love at first site. There might be a small obstacle in their way but then they go on to live happily ever after.

Photo taken from princess.disney.com

Here is what I want my daughters to learn from the Disney Princesses:

1.  There is a prince out there for them. They won't fall in love at first site but God will lead them to each other. If you wait for God's leading you will know when that prince comes. 
2. They are a daughter of the King, therefore they are already Princesses. Since they are Princesses, they deserved to be treated like one. That does not mean they are spoiled and get everything they want, but they are treated with respect. The prince should be putting the needs of the princess before his own. He opens doors, pays for dates, picks her up at the door and says hello to the parents, and always keeps in mind that to disrespect the Princess will always have severe consequences.
3. There is no such thing as a Happily Ever After in the Disney sense. Marriage takes work. A lot of work. You can still be happy and feel like its a Happily Ever After if you take the time to make it work. Cinderella had to spend years being treated poorly by family before she met the prince. Your relationship with your husband will have to go through some valleys. It makes the Happily Ever After worth it in the end.
4. You should never give up on your dreams. Cinderella dreamed of a better life and she got it in the end, even when it took her many years. Belle wanted someone who would love her for her and care for her father as well. It took her father getting lost, locked up, her taking his place, her getting scared and living with the last thing on earth anyone would want. It also took lots of hard relationship work before she got her dreams. It isn't about the castles but about contentment in life. Their dreams are all about being content with life and working towards those dreams.