Reformed Disney Hater

We just spent three days in Disneyland. As far as the title of this post, I realize that using the words "Disney" and "hate" in the same title may seem a bit dramatic but, it's true. I really disliked all things Disney for the longest time.  I felt that Disney was nothing more than a giant conglomeration set on filling the minds of innocent children with ideas that they needed to buy, or have their parents buy, every new toy, doll, costume or movie upon which they could plaster their name. And worse, I felt that Disney was irresponsible for presenting the princess image to young girls.  I of course, knew that it was a lie and I suppose I thought that children should know the same. My mind was made up.

But then something happened, I had a child and then another and two and a half minutes later, a third. We had three daughters in two years (we managed this by having twins). As the girls moved from infancy into toddlerhood and began to gravitate towards anything that was either pink or sparkled (preferably both) my perception began to soften.

Yet, when the idea of going to Disneyland recently came up, I have to admit that I still sort of surprised myself when I jumped on it rather than trying to convince everyone to go to Yosemite or one of our other favorite travel destinations. I wanted to go to Disneyland  for one reason,  that being, that I knew that the girls would love it. That was all that mattered. I thought I would go along and tolerate Disneyland, but I found that I didn't need to "tolerate" it all because what I discovered was, I really loved it.  I loved it because I was able to see it through my daughters' eyes.  They were in heaven and I got to watch.

Yes, while there, the girls were able to meet the "real" Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty who all managed to marry the perfect guy and live happily ever after, having never spent a day in college. We rode "It's a Small World" where children from every continent are represented as singing happily about the things we all share, while leaving out the many things we don't. It's blatantly obvious that Disneyland doesn't represent an ounce of reality. But today, I realize that our girls have a lifetime to learn about life's realities. And that they can learn about those things with an occasional break in Disneyland. And really, isn't that what Lilly fabric does for me? It definitely takes me to a happy place. I've come to the conclusion that it's part of my job, as their mom, to realize how lucky I am to live in a place where my children are able to enjoy their childhood and to, sometimes, just sit back and let them while enjoying the view.