beautiful vs. fancy

I'm sure you all aware at this point how very much Rose loves princesses right now -- collecting the dolls, dressing up like a princess, acting out scenes that involve princesses, etc.  Mike and I have both been grudgingly accepting of this form of dramatic play (and hopeful that it's time-limited!), but we've also been trying to stress that it's more important to be kind, generous, smart (etc.) too.

It hasn't been sinking in too well, unfortunately.

Recently Rose has decided that she is ONLY "beautiful" when she is dressed up like a princess, which has been upsetting to us. (Perhaps it has something to do with the adulation from friends and strangers -- "look how beautiful you are!!" -- when she is all dressed up??) We keep trying to tell her that she is always beautiful, because being beautiful is not about the clothes we wear, but it's about the kind of person we are. And because she is kind and generous and smart (etc) that means she is always beautiful.  But every time, she would insist "NO!" and state that she is only beautiful in a princess dress. UGH.

This aisle is my nemesis at Target.

Maybe it was too advanced of a concept for a three-year-old??


But then we FINALLY hit on the apparent solution:  we now tell her that she looks FANCY when she is dressed up like a princess, and tell her that she is beautiful (kind, generous, smart, etc.) at regular intervals no matter how she is dressed.


Hooray!! It seems to be working. So please do us a favor and tell Rose she looks "fancy" when she is dressed up and "beautiful" when she is being a beautiful person. :)