Learn the speaker's trip to a yard sale to buy clothing for her daughter, and how her daughter made her preferences known in English after the shopping trip
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| Princesses |
| I went yard saling this morning, hoping to find summer clothes for my daughter. On the second sale, I hit the proverbial jackpot. I got enough clothes to last her this spring and summer, with a few left over in case of irreversible stains. When I got home, I showed all of the various shorts, pants, and little t-shirts to my little girl. Her only response was, "Where are the dresses?" |
| Now, I am not a girly girl. I prefer pants and power tools to dresses and shopping. I have never been a cheerleader. For Halloween, I choose the witch costume over the fairy princess. My daughter, however, is another story. At two and a half, she already loves to put on princess dresses and tiaras, and she even crosses her legs when she sits down. I often wonder where she learned that. |
| I can take some comfort in the fact that my only child's current favorite movie is Shrek, and she absolutely loves Princess Fiona. Fiona, in contrast to many cartoon princesses, is self-sufficient. She even knows karate and has no problem eating rats while out camping in the wild (even I wouldn't do that). But she remains a princess who waited in her tower for her "champion" to come rescue her. |
| I know that my daughter's tastes will change over time, and by no means do I expect her to be just like me. I just hope that the tea parties are balanced, every once in a while, with the sound of a miter saw. |
9 Comments
HidePrincesses
I went yard saling this morning, hoping to find summer clothes for my daughter. On the second sale, I hit the proverbial jackpot. I got enough clothes to last her this spring and summer, with a few left over in case of irreversible stains. When I got home, I showed all of the various shorts, pants, and little t-shirts to my little girl. Her only response was, "Where are the dresses?"
Now, I am not a girly girl. I prefer pants and power tools to dresses and shopping. I have never been a cheerleader. For Halloween, I choose the witch costume over the fairy princess. My daughter, however, is another story. At two and a half, she already loves to put on princess dresses and tiaras, and she even crosses her legs when she sits down. I often wonder where she learned that.
I can take some comfort in the fact that my only child's current favorite movie is Shrek, and she absolutely loves Princess Fiona. Fiona, in contrast to many cartoon princesses, is self-sufficient. She even knows karate and has no problem eating rats while out camping in the wild (even I wouldn't do that). But she remains a princess who waited in her tower for her "champion" to come rescue her.
I know that my daughter's tastes will change over time, and by no means do I expect her to be just like me. I just hope that the tea parties are balanced, every once in a while, with the sound of a miter saw.
honestly.. this site ate this comment twice! third time is the charm right?
I understand what you say. And maybe it is because I never played catch or having a tea party with my parents (the equivalents of such activities included) I don understand the situation that good.
But I think that it is a bit more then a silent wish (can one say that in English?) but it is mixed with a layer of sadness, that might grow in the future and then burden the relationship.
You do not need to have the same interests to enjoy spending time together. You can do what one person like and next time what the other person likes.
Salivia,
I think the situation is like this.
A father whose hobby is watching baseball games and loved playing baseball all the time in his youth is likely to play catch with his son. This mother is just expecting the same thing to her daughter. You know, it's always good to share wonderful time with anybody who has something in common. And it'll be more wonderful if the somebody was your son or daughter. That's what the mother wants I think, and it's nothing more than that.
The mother is not trying to force something to her daughter, and she probably thinks it's ok to be girly (as you think, it's nothing to do with dependent or independent). I think she will love her daughter no matter how girly the daughter is, needless to say. But, you know, the mother has a slight hope that she can one day have fun together for things she enjoyed very much in her youth.
Doesn't sound to me as if she was really accepting her. She didn't asked her daughter what clothe she would like to wear and she wants her to change.
You can get along just fine if different views. And just because something is labelled girly or manly doesn't mean it is and it also it doesn't mean manly = independent or girly = depended.
Ah, now I got it! The mother was actually talking about machine tools. Yeah, so she is saying like it'll be ok to be interested in tea-parties-like stuff (or any girly stuff) for now as long as the daughter would be one day interested carpentry stuff so that they can get along together, eventually. Interesting! Thank you, Chihiro!
Hi everybody,
You both are correct.
The mother, who was never a girly girl, is accepting of her daughter being different from her. Yet at the same time she is hoping that as her daughter grows, she does take an interest in the 'less girly' things like a miter saw. (It's also supposed to be slightly humorous, tea parties being feminine and miter saws being masculine.)
Hi Salivia,
I have done a quick Internet search and came across this info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miter_saw For me, it just sounds off topic.
Maybe she is trying to say that her daughter and she may have occasional conflicts, from time to time, but it's ok for her daughter to have her own tastes that are very different from hers.
@yk360
I guess it should mean that she will also do some other things. Not only playing around (with tea parties) but also doing stuff herself - like handiwork with a miter saw.
Could you tell me what does "with the sound of a miter saw" part imply? I couldn't clearly understand this part.