I’ve spent the day at my sisters for my niece’s 3^rd birthday. I have been incredibly tired all day despite eight hours sleep, meditation and a nap. It is nothing short of a miracle I am writing something now, and testament to my dedication of blogging every day during my holiday.

Struggling to decide on what to blog, considering the birthday of a three year old isn’t exactly the party to end all parties, I have settled on Disney Princesses. I am that tired that it has come to this.

For months my niece has wanted a Sleeping Beauty cake. She loves Sleeping Beauty. I wonder whether this will lead her to believe that when she’s older she just needs to have a good long lie in and a prince will come along and wake her up. It’s probably just because of the word ‘sleeping’, she is very fond of sleep. In my opinion though Sleeping Beauty and Snow White got it very right, have a kip whilst all the drama is going on, and then wake up for the big party with the gorgeous guy at the end. Of course that isn’t real life. If only it was.

My Disney Princess was (and I guess still is) The Little Mermaid. There can be worse role models. She went off and did stuff. Ariel didn’t wait about for some man to come along and rescue her. She was proactive and found a way to get what she wanted. Sure she got it a little wrong along the way, but she had amazing friends and it all worked out in the end. She was open-minded, inquisitive and friendly. Not to mention stubborn, determined and tenacious (Prince Eric was hard work though!). But for Ariel it wasn’t just about the man, she wanted to be human before his pretty face showed up, he was just an extra incentive to actually get on with making it happen.

Apparently I also used to watch Beauty and the Beast repeatedly. I’m not even going to start analysing that story versus my past relationships. But I’m not sure that it’s wise for little girls to repeatedly watch a story where a woman manages to “save” a man who seems to have some serious issues.

I have to admit that despite being an adult, and having developed a level of cynicism, there is still part of me that can still sit down and suspend reality for long enough to watch a Disney movie and thoroughly enjoy it. I know fairytale endings don’t exist in real life. Real relationships are far from perfect. You don’t meet the love of your life wandering through a wood, burst into song, get married and live happily ever after. You have to work at relationships and get through the ups and the downs. But every so often there should be a little magic. Surely that’s not too much to wish for?