Not a Pansy Princess

So, I was playing pretend with S this afternoon. She made me a princess, and she chose to be my knight. She presented the appropriate play costumes, and we were ready to go. Good thing, as there were nasty dragons to be fought. S wielded her sword (read: pool noodle), and with a triumphant "I'll protect you!" took the first dragon down with amazing skill. Then she turned to me and invited me to help her with the next dragon. Sweet deal! The princess hardly ever gets to hold her own sword, let alone use one!

After slaying dragons, Sir S decided we'd better get married, the process of which involved going out to a fancy dinner (man, that would be a lot less stressful and expensive in real life!). We slayed some more dragons, and then I was made supper and dessert again (just regular supper this time, not the kind that gets you married). Play continued on a little bit after this, and then we went outside.

As I was driving home after, I realized that while she has no clue, S totally had some basic tenets of a good relationship thrown into our pretend play. In this day and age, a wife (i.e. the Princess) isn't just a pretty little thing of her husband's (i.e. the Knight). She is (and wants to be) part of the action! The husband has a role to be the protector, and is confident to take initiative, but knows to invite his wife alongside to slay life's dragons together.

At the same time, the wife needs to know she's appreciated and loved at the end of the day, after all the dragon-fighting has been done. Nothing grandiose. Just something that says, "y'know, honey--we fought some big dragons today, and I'm glad you're on my side. I just wanted to say I appreciate you for that."

One day, S will want to be the princess. There is a fantastic knight waiting for her somewhere. One who will let her help fight the dragons, and take her to dinner after. :)