Comment: The P of E

"I just want to be the Princess of Everything."

That quote comes from my daughter, but it really comes from all of us.

Let’s delve a little deeper: What does it mean to be the Princess of Everything? Sure, on the surface, it means wearing beautiful clothes, probably a crown (and possibly combining it with the scepter of your choice), and having people wait on you.

Superficially this all seems rather, um, superficial.

(Though a scepter would be cool, I have to say.)

But it isn’t. Not really. Because what lies beneath the surface is this: my daughter wants to be in control, to be in charge. Princesses would theoretically have some, but not all, power. If they wanted all the power they’d be Queen (or President, and we all know how many headaches THAT job has, plus there’s no crown). So wanting to be the Princess of Everything means being in charge, but not fully. Someone is there if you mess up, but you can usually pull the strings you want (front row seats at Hannah Montana, starring role in High School Musical 14, etc.) without any trouble.

Also, being the Princess of Everything means being beloved; why? Because in all the lore we feed our children about princesses, they are ALWAYS beloved. You don’t generally hear about mean princesses. They’re always nice. It’s stepsisters who get the really bad rap. Princesses get all the love. And let’s face it, it’s a pretty basic need that we all have, to be loved.

It also means, per Disney, being beautiful. But by whose standards? If you’re the Princess of Everything, then everyone will measure their standard of beauty by you. So it doesn’t matter what you look like; you’ll be perceived as beautiful because you’re the Princess of Everything. I mean, duh.

Being the P of E means getting to do what you want, when you want. Isn’t that what we as adults all strive for? We hurry through the drudgery of the day to get to what we want: money, sex, booze, TV, play time of one form or another.

If I were the P of E, I wouldn't need to do the mundane tasks that take up the majority of our days; no longer would I be waiting for fun to fold the laundry, make supper, pay the bills. It would all be done for me so it’s always fun time. (Just try and actually figure out what fun really is. It’s a little more elusive than it seems initially. But that’s a post for another day.)

So P of E = power, love, major but not ultimate authority, and the ability to do whatever you want whenever you want. Oh, and being considered beautiful by everybody.

Hey, I wanna be the Princess of Everything too.