A True Princess

Yesterday, Elena was watching the Backyardigans episode where Tasha sings, "I Love Being a Princess".

The folks in my kingdom work hard everyday,
Then go home to their dark little huts.
Some say a Princess should live like her people,
But I reply, "What are you, nuts?"

(Complete lyrics available here: I Love Being a Princess)

Ariana fumed throughout the entire song. "That is *not* what a true princess is like. How can she be so self-centered?! She *should* live like her people--they are important, too! Doesn't she know that they are human beings, too?" And on and on she went. My little socialist. :D

This morning, we had breakfast just us and Amaya at Starbucks. She wanted to talk about Pan's Labyrinth. (Note: it is NOT a movie for children, IMO. Carlos edited pretty heavily when she saw it. As another aside, I was excited that Ariana's Spanish is good enough for her to understand it). Ariana described in detail all that Ofelia went through to become a true princess. She talked about how important it was to protect the innocent. A *real* princess would take care of those around her.

She hummed the haunting melody of the lullaby for me, and we talked about music.

She wanted to know why the stepfather valued his son more than the girl or his wife, which led to a discussion of gender in different cultures.

We talked about Jesus, who was innocent, dying for us. She pointed out that Ofelia was innocent, too, in that she didn't deserve death.

All in all, we touched on many tangled topics, and deep waters for a six year old. Yet she impressed me with her insight and awareness of so many different issues, and her strong internal values. As far as I am concerned, she is a true princess!