Alice's Birthday

Alice told me for her fifth birthday that she wanted black and white cupcakes because, “it’s like the dark side and the light side.” Yes, we are still on Star Wars. I’ll take Star Wars over Barbie any day.

I can’t believe that Alice is five and getting ready to start school. She, of all our kids, is the most capable of spending the day away from home. She’s independent, assertive and social. She’ll be fine. She is my little helper and whenever there is an audible fart somewhere in the house, she happily owns up to it. She loves Star Wars and playing with her boy cousins, yet in the same moment loves jewelry and knows how to wear it. She was, as Lily says, “born to have her ears pierced.” She is enjoying her new pierced ears and her new princess Leia shirt. And I’ll take her over the others any day because she always makes her bed and cleans her room—as a mom, I gotta love that.

Happy Birthday Alice!

The little Star War's cupcakes. They were all chocolate to represent the 'Dark Side.'


Alice blowing out the candles.


The Princess Leia t-shirt I made for Alice. (I just did the applique)

Poet Laureate

Last week the little girls and I went to the park. It was beautiful, sunny, warm and we stayed for hours. Our faces were red with sun and play and the girls went on several adventures. As they came back from one of their adventures, Alice came to me with a bouquet of dandelions gone to seed. She handed it to me and said:

"These are for you. They're not flowers--they're wishes."

I love living with poets.

Alice's Birthday: or 'Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.'

Here's the breakdown of Alice's birthday. I think the pictures tell it all.

Yay! Alice is four now.
By the way, in case you couldn't tell--the soft Princess Leia doll was a HUGE hit.

Also, notice how very dirty and tired all of those little campers are.

What's a girl to do?

So Alice, yes we’re talking about Alice again, is not like Lily. Maybe that is obvious to most of you parents out there…that your kids are different. It’s adjusting to these differences that takes a little effort. So Lily is not, except for a few month stint when she was two, the girly girl type. She’s not necessarily a tom boy, but she’s just less interested in princesses and the color pink. Alice was born a princess and Jane is quietly following suit. While embracing every whim and sensibility that define what a princess is…she has recently taken an interesting turn brought about by this household's OBSESSION with Star Wars. She officially LOVES Princess Leia and just to qualify the differences between Leia and, let’s say, Sleeping Beauty—in Alice’s own words (as she’s watching Princess Leia strangle Jabba the Hut): “Mommy, Princess Leia can save herself!” So the light went on and Alice realized that she doesn’t need a prince if she’s a Leia. Let’s just say that she’s not waiting for a prince to come and rescue her.

So when Alice insisted on a Barbie for Christmas I did what every self-respecting mother of a princess would do: I went to the Disney web site and found a myriad of Barbie princesses (on sale even). As I’m browsing through the Snow Whites and Cinderellas I casually ask Alice which princess she wants and….duh…she wants Princess Leia. So, the Leia barbies are only hundreds of dollars on ebay, collectables of course. They probably haven’t made a Leia Barbie since 1979. So, what’s a girl to do? So I pooled all of my mom resources and made myself a Princess Leia Barbie. My friend Jill who also happens to be an expert on barbies, a seamstress, and a creative mastermind agreed to make the Leia costume. Then she coached me on what Barbie to try and find to substitute for Leia. Apparently I needed to find a Barbie with hair already parted in the middle (so we could make the infamous buns) because, unbeknownst to me, you can’t just part a barbie’s hair wherever you want (these are the sorts of things I need to learn). I found a perfectly respectable Dorothy (Wiz of Oz) Barbie on Amazon for $12. She passed the Jill hair test and we were in business. The dress, of course, is perfect and to add to the outfit, I raided all of my friends, who are mothers of girls, Barbie stashes and stole some Hannah Montana boots from Trisha’s daughters. In case you didn’t know, Hannah Montana boots look a lot like Princess Leia boots. And finally, my talented sister-in-law, Trieste, personalized the cardboard suitcase I got for her and her Barbie. The whole ensemble: Barbie, dress, boots, suitcase, was much, much less than the ebay Leia—and, in my opinion, better. What Alice will probably never understand, maybe until she’s a mother, is how many people and resources pulled together to get her a Princess Leia doll—in the hopes that she can one day kick some Jabba butt.

Princess Alice

I know that Alice is much a topic of interest on this blog—but she’s at an extremely interesting age and she’s funny and difficult and she makes you want to cry with laughter or with pure frustration. This is, once again, another Alice story…so take it for what it is. We were having a particularly lovely morning which included the mandatory fits of uncharacteristic rage for dressing and combing hair and general getting readiness. However, after we were finally dressed in a pink dress and, what Alice likes to call, her glass slippers (they are really some pink ballet flats that Hannah got her for Christmas), we were ready to go to COSTCO. As we were walking in the door the lady that checks the validity of the Costco card, said: “Well, aren’t you the prettiest princess I ever saw.” Alice gasped. How could this random lady know that she’s a princess? Was this one of her secret, but loyal, subjects? Perhaps she was a lady-in-waiting who had been banished to Costco by a previous princess.

At any rate, the question begged to be asked, and so I asked it: “How did you know?”

Costco lady: “Oh, I know, I have a princess of my own. She’s thirty-nine years old.”

I got a little emotional at this admission. I’m not sure if I was nostalgic for this woman and her now grown little princess, or if I was in utter despair at the thought of waiting on Princess Alice, hand and foot, for at least thirty-seven more years.

Alice: “Look at my glass slippers.”

Costco lady, with much attention and with very accurate and majestic intonations, fit for a princess: “Those are the most beautiful glass slippers I have ever seen.”

Alice graciously beamed as we pushed into the store, talking merrily of her glass slippers and the “sprinkles” in her hair (leftover glitter from her haircut). She really is a princess. Now when do I become the queen?