The Verdict...

I hate to say it, but the verdict on Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" is a big thumbs down. Nevermind the racial stereotypes that are all over the place (white people are wealthy and run society, black people are stuck serving the white aristocracy, black people are less educated than white people, etc.), the movie was downright scary for any kid under that age of 10 or 12. Voodoo, ghosts, demons from hell (literally!), monsters trying to eat the main characters every other minute...the theater was filled with crying kids. After I got Miss M to calm down from the first scare, a second one came no less than 5 minutes later and she started crying "I want go home!" Poor baby. That was all I needed to hear. We left half way through. Luckily she's pretty resilient and we were close to Rockefeller Center so we went to see the big Christmas tree while we waited for the second part of the show to open: The Princess Ball.

This part was SO MUCH fun for her. Disney rented the Roseland Ballroom (around the corner from the theater) and had every princess Disney has ever created there in person for the kids to meet and get their pictures with. She was in AWE and her little mouth was wide open as she met Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and the gang. Was very cool and we got lost of pics.

Daddy had to get in on the action as well. Some of those princesses were pretty damn cute! I'm proud to say that the cutest one in my opinion looked nothing like Barbie as I've discussed in a previous post. Pocahontas won the Hot Princess Award and it was for more than her loin cloth. Beautiful long black hair, olive skin, brown eyes...everything Barbie is not. Who knows folks, maybe I'm growing! :) I didn't ask her for the number to her teepee though. Still seeing Hot Girl so kept my admiration to myself.

After that we jumped in a cab and went to see Santa at Macy's. Again, mouth open, total awe. Being three, she "gets" Christmas now...at least, that she's going to "get" on Christmas. Every morning she wakes up and runs to the tree looking for presents! Funny.

Overall, we had a terrific week and a half together. She's really taken with my family which I'm so happy about. Her mother's family is such a mess and mostly overseas. Having my family show her how families love and support eachother is important to me. It's one of the reasons I decided to divorce her mother: I didn't want Miss M to think that what was going on in our house was how things are supposed to be.

She talked about family all week and has been asking a ton of questions. It did bring up the "why aren't Mommy and Daddy together" subject. Not directly, but at drop off at her mother's she said "Daddy stay here!" and did the same last night when her mother dropped her off. Makes me sad but I guess that's the choice we've made. Lesser of two evils for sure.

It's nice to be back in the Blogworld. Ma and Pa Big City Dad have such an old computer that it was impossible for me to post or even read emails. I'm looking forward to seeing what my cyber friends have been up to.

Is it weird that....?

Ok, I admit it. As a little boy I had a crush on Barbie. Look at her, she's hot right? I forget what her proportions would be in real life, but I do remember it's something completely ridiculous, meaning there's little chance she'd be able to walk upright. My kind of girl.

To my Mom's chagrin, ALL of my girlfriends, including the Ex, have resembled either Barbie or Jessica Rabbit. Not a brunette in sight. Not that there's ANYTHING unattractive about brunettes, redheads, black women, Asian women, or green women for that matter. I love women, have dated every type and find ALL kinds attractive. For some reason, however, I always end up with the skinny but curvy blond as the long term relationship. Obviously that's worked out really well for me, right? Might be some to be done work with my therapist on that one. Ya think? Help me dude...please?

Growing up, my parents did a pretty good job encouraging my sister and me to play with "gender neutral" things. We each had our toys but I don't remember ever being told "Don't play with that. That's a girl's toy." I swore as a parent that I would do the same. I'm all for girls being as tomboyish as they want or as girly as they want. I really didn't plan on having a pink apartment complete with pink toys, pink curtains, and little dresses everywhere. Miss M is as girly as they come. It's a rare day when we don't have a meltdown when Daddy dresses us in pants. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having a little girl. Nothing better than Daddy's Little Girl and Miss M is certainly that. I can't get out of eyesight without her hunting me down and I LOVE THAT.

Miss M is napping after a great play date this morning with her little friend Jason. First nap she's taken in I don't know how long. Little guy wore her out. All boy that one (right T?) On our way home, we stopped at the toy store to pick up a replacement Cinderella that we lost last week, and some Barbie clothes. So here I am, the little one napping, putting out her new Barbie clothes so we can play with them after her nap...and feeling kind of creepy. Sort of like when I was a little boy and had to check out Barbie naked when no one was looking. Come on guys, you KNOW you did it too. How could you not? Unless of course you were into Ken, not that there's anything wrong with that :)

After Miss M wakes up, we'll commence to dress Barbie in her new sundresses, dance around the apartment wearing princess crowns, and watch some Princess movies. Most likely Miss M will put the fancy clip on earrings on me and shriek with joy "Daddy!!! You so boootiful!!!" and I'll love every minute of it. This will be my first "date" with Barbie, however, in a very, very long time, at least, the Barbie doll that is...

Little girls rock. Barbie (of all kinds) and I, however, are going to have to come to an understanding....