The Cinderellas
Finding the right man is hard at any age, but three-year olds might have it the worst. You see, three-year old boys do not have that little thing called tact...a trait that gradually develops with age. So when a three-year old girl asks a three-year old boy to be her boyfriend, he doesn't politely say, "I think we should just be friends." Oh no. Instead he says, "No way! I don't like you!" But girls are tenacious creatures, and they won't stop searching for that special someone until they find him.
This week during our playground time, the girls in our class decided to play Cinderella, and they were determined to find a Prince Charming to take them to the ball. (Please note, the girls couldn't agree on who would be Cinderella and who would be the ugly step-sisters, so all three of the girls decided to be Cinderella...the man-hunt starts early, and so does the drama...)
Since we have so many more boys than girls in our class, the odds were in the ladies' favor. The girls set off with high spirits in search of Mr. Right. The scene looked like this:
With each attempt, the little girls would say to the boys, "Prince Charming, will you take me to the ball?"
And here are some of the boys' responses:
"Nope. It's too hot."
"I can't. I have to swing."'
"I need to work." (He was operating heavy equipment...a Little Tikes dump truck).
"RAWR!!!"
The harsh reality began to set in. Maybe finding a boy to take them to the ball wasn't going to be so easy after all. I found two of the Cinderellas huddled under the slide after being scared off by the last "Prince Charming."
"What's wrong, girls?" I asked.
"We can't find any Prince Charmings," they said. "Boys are mean."
But one Cinderella was not willing to give up the fight just yet. She would have her Prince Charming, and he would take her to the ball.
"Hey!" she shouted to a little boy on a tricycle. "You're going to take me to the ball!"
He didn't have time to reply because she had already wrenched his hands off the handle bars and was pulling him over to the chalk-covered "dance floor." She grabbed his hands and held them firmly on her waist. Not letting go of his hands, lest he try to make a run for it, she led them around in circles while humming a romantic tune. With his plastic helmet still on his head, the little boy did as he was told. He looked longingly at his tricycle, but knew that it would be futile to protest.
As suddenly as it had started, Cinderella ran away from Prince Charming yelling, "It's midnight, I have to go!" She skipped back to the other Cinderellas who had been watching her from under the slide with jealous admiration, leaving Prince Charming still standing there with his hands stretched out to where her waist had been. He looked confused for a moment, but then realizing that he had been released from bondage he dashed back to his tricycle.
The Cinderellas stayed away from the boys for the rest of the afternoon. But their days of hunting down Prince Charming aren't over, in fact, they're just beginning.
