The New Princess

Kids are growing up fast. Blame it on the media, blame it on parents, blame it on friends, point is it's happening. Take my kids for example. Patch did our taxes this year. No joke. We are getting a $25,000 refund. Anyone want to hire him?

Mini-me loves Disney princesses. Her new favorite is Ariel. I admit to showing her the first princess movie at age 2. It was Cinderella, followed closely by Sleeping Beauty. Everything she does is now related to being a princess. Even when she pretends to be a superhero, she's a princess superhero.

Flower went through the princess phase early as well. When I was a kid, the princess phase started a little later. Maybe kindergarten. So what's become the new princess phase for kids in the second grade? Being a rock star.

Everything Flower does now is because she wants to be a rock star. She cuts holes in her shirts so her thumbs can stick through (that way they stay on your wrists while you're rocking it out on a guitar solo). She wears shirts with sassy messages like "My dad rocks" or "I didn't do it." She wears hot pink instead of Sleeping Beauty pink, and her Barbies play in a band instead of go to the ball.

Flower has stayed pretty grounded in reality, though, because she has yet to ask to learn to play an instrument. Maybe she'll be the lead singer.