No More Princesses Please

First off, I should qualify this rant by reminding you that I am the father of three boys.  I don’t have girls and assume it’s because God either saw me genetically inferior and had pity on me or just likes me better.  Ask any parent of both boys and girls and they will almost unanimously say that boys are easier to raise.  Having said that, I notice a particular syndrome with dads of girls that I don’t quite get.  They seem determined to raise their daughters to be their little princess.  Mind you, I don’t consider this a good thing. What do I mean by raising a “princess”?  Well it’s a female who seems to posses the combined traits of being rather self-absorbed, having a sense of entitlement and appearing totally helpless in most any situation besides navigating her way around a mall. 

 

How does this happen?  Well it seems to me that this princess syndrome is largely bestowed upon girls by their fathers.  This comes from a well-intentioned desire to take care of and protect their little angel from all danger, distress and harm.  For example, if my son forgets his to pack his lunch as he heads to school, has a flat tire on the way home from soccer practice, gets picked on by a neighborhood hooligan or finds himself in any number of simple life lesson situations, the parent typically takes some version of the “well you got yourself into this, you’ll figure something out” type of response.  But the parent of a princess rushes to her aid every time.  As a result, we see girls set up to fail or be highly frustrated in their dating relationships because, Oh my, not every guy has the understanding that he is to wait on this frail waif hand and foot as her daddy did throughout her growing up years.  Are all females helpless little princesses?  Fortunately no.  And some girls who were raised as princesses manage to grow up into solid, caring mature young women.  But some unfortunately, spend their whole lives in the misguided mindset that the world revolves around them. So parents, and especially dads, if you have a beautiful little cherub who is the center of your world, please don’t handicap them by pampering them to the point that they develop into a “princess”.  I and all the other fathers of boys who may one day fall for your little princess beg you!