The other day I was watching my daughter play with her toys and a revelation came to me. My little girl was acting out her own romance novel. I looked closer, not quite believing what I was seeing. Her little hands danced around as she animated the dolls and bears in a tale of love and suspense. She had all the elements there, a hero, a heroine, even an evil villain. Darned if she didn’t tell a good story too.Â
It got me to thinking. Could it be possible that little girls are born with a “romance novel geneâ€? If so, do all of them have it? My answer would be yes. Don’t believe me? I dare you to walk into a slumber party full of seven and eight-year olds and put in a princess movie. You know, one of the ones where the pretty female is rescued from some evil witch by her prince charming. Not only will each and every girl be riveted to the set, but they will be running for the dress-up clothes after to make up their own fairy-tale story.Â
It brought back my own childhood memories of make believe. My cousin and I used to spend entire summers acting out our stories of love, danger and happily ever after. While Tracy outgrew that phase and went on to become a teacher, I grew up and continued to dream up stories. Funny how things work out. We used to be so alike and now we couldn’t be more different. Still, at least in our childhood, we had the same ability to lose ourselves in fantasies. I like to think that one day she will find time to pick up one of my books and be able to find some of that magic from those summer days of long ago.Â
My question to all of you is this, what was your favorite toy or princess movie? I will pick one comment at random and that poster will win a free PDF download of one of my books.  Â
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It’s funny that you would mention your daughter’s romantic doll-play. I did the same thing as a child but, I was more interested in reading whodunits and ghost stories than romance books. My doll play was intricate, romantic and had just as many cliches as your first book. 🙂 Where does this come from? My mother didn’t watch soap operas or read romance books. My books had a romance but a lot of ghosts. Could Disney be the reason? I loved CINDERELLA and SLEEPING BEAUTY. I had most of the Disney collection on 45s (yes, I am that old). What in my young-girl mind turned those few viewing experiences into the elaborate Barbie/Ken/Evil-Other-Doll-Trying-To-Steal-Ken stories? I’m just as curious as you are! 🙂
ThatBrunette, I think it would make for a fascinating study. I don’t know why so many little girls love to lose themselves in fairy tale dreams. It is so much fun to watch them play with those dolls, though.