So what is a princess?

I've been hearing this word since the day I was born.

Princess.

"I'm going to be a princess for Halloween." "She's her daddy's little princess." "Princess Aurora." "The Princess Protection Program." "I am a princess. All girls are."*

"I deserve to be treated like a princess."

And guess what? I do think all girls should be treated like a princess. But first, I need to define what I think a real princess is:


1. One who is willing to wait--Ok, bear with me a second. I'm going to make Disney references. Remember Snow White? She was shut in a palace and forced to be a servant by her stepmother, the queen. Ever the optimist, she continued to keep cheerfully going about her day to day business. In the end, she ends up marrying a man who could be the only prince she's ever met. Sleeping Beauty--Aurora's her real name--meets her love in a meadow, but after going comatose for awhile, he saves her from peril and awakes her with a kiss. She had no time to do speed dating, be a contestant on The Bachelorette, or go on blind dates set up by her friends.

Does all this seem a little too idealistic? Yes. Very much so. The modern day princess stories have a little more backbone to them--like "Enchanted" and "The Princess Diaries." The protagonists of both learn a thing or two about love--Giselle tried to rush into marrying a prince she met one day. Mia tries to go out with the popular guy she had a crush on for the longest time. However, both learn by the end of the movie that the guy that really loved them is the one that had been standing in front of them for most of the screen time.

Again, real life doesn't always work like this. But what I will say is this--we all need to be a little more patient--with anything. A real princess should not be a royal spoiled brat. Rather, a real princess should learn to wait for that new doll...or that boyfriend...or to have sex. (Yes, i said "sex." Oh my gosh, I said "sex." But yes, I do believe in waiting until I'm married to have sex. All the Disney princesses did it, even Princess Jasmine. Minus the Disney, though, it's something I do take seriously.)

2. A servant--in the epically awesome movie, "The Princess Diaries," Mia Thermopolis discovers she's a princess and undergoes training to become one. Towards the end of the movie, she has a candid moment with her grandmother (the queen of Genovia), and her grandmother tells her the stereotypical view of princesses--they "wear pretty dresses and live happily ever after" (and she listed some other stuff, too). However, she then said that "It's a real job." Kind of a public servant sort of thing, i suppose. However, when talking about all "princesses" (not just royalty, here), I think servitude is an important aspect of it. Selfishness is not a "royal" quality to have. In fact, it's a royal pain in the coolie. Do you care about your family? The people around you? Do you want to see others succeed in their lives? Do you want to help others? These are qualities I want.

3.The daughter of a king--This is an obvious one, no? I'm not just talking about real kings here, though. I'm talking about the King of Kings. I know Jesus as my Savior, and I've made Him King of my life. Then I became adopted. God is now my Father. And I am a princess.

No, I'm not perfect. My "princess training" is not at all complete. But this is something I felt like blogging about. Sorry, male readers, if you feel this didn't really apply to you, because you can't be "princesses." Don't worry--I'll write an entry about knights. But that's for another day...

-Nicole-

*quote taken from the movie "A Little Princess"