Fake it till you make it

LovelyDaughter and I took K and A (my Brother's girls) out for a Girly Day today. Actually, it started yesterday. LovelyDaughter dressed them and herself up in fancy dresses and hair garlands, and they had a tea party. That was so much fun that I rented the movie "Enchanted" to watch in the evening.

So today we decided to continue the feminine princess theme by going shopping. We bought a new outfit for K, and a fancy dress-up dress with sparklies on it. Also, thrift store jewelry for both of them.

Tonight they are both wearing their "princess" dresses, with their hair braided on top of their heads (thanks to LovelyDaughter).

The interesting thing about it all is the impact playing princess has had on the girls' behavior, particularly K. She has taken great joy in feeling beautiful and saying "please" and "thank you" and wiping her mouth daintily at the table. I was very pleased by that, so I refrained from scolding her for putting her elbows on the table and eating her bread like a chipmunk. Instead I complimented her on her patience (she was the last one when the ice cream went around), and on her pretty necklace and hair. To which she responded gravely, "Why thank you."

There are some issues with K that we have to deal with, because of things that have happened to her, but small changes are encouraging, and if we can send her home from here feeling beautiful and worthwhile I think it will have been worth the effort and occasional frustration.

Besides, acting like a princess is a first step in becoming one.