And yet.  I had one of those Barbie heads where you can style the hair.  And I loooooooved it.

Cut to the girliest of the girly girls.  My daughter, Bean.  I do not quite know what to do with the swirling collection of girlyness that is her.

This is how she posed for the first day of school today:

And no, I didn’t tell her to stand like that.  I can’t even convincingly stand like that.

So, give this little bedazzling creature an app that lets you pick a Disney Princess, choose a fancy event she is attending, style her hair (yes the app kind of miraculously lets your kid style a cartoon character’s hair as if she is touching it), pick her clothes, the color and fabric of her gown, choose accessories, and then save the photo in an album–and she is in heaven.  The new Disney Princess Royal Salon App (I know, the name makes me want to barf too) does just that.

Bean loves it.

And honestly, I think it’s pretty fun too.

What is most fun, is the seemingly inexhaustible combination of options for creating your character’s look.  You choose if you want to dress Cinderella, Rapunzel, Belle or Ariel.  The characters look pretty much like they did in the movies too–not all grown up and ultra-busty.  Then you can choose from a number of events.  And then the options for fabrics and dresses and hair and accessories just go on and on. And if you’re wondering how you can possibly style an animated character’s hair, I just have to say, trust me.  It’s like the Barbie head times a thousand.  Except that pretty much every choice you make actually looks good. More often than not my poor Barbie head looked like a zombie drag queen.

Look, I am the first person to try to de-princessify my daughter’s life.  I want to keep her young.  I want her to get muddy (and not track it in my apartment…).  I want her building and climbing and racing and singing.  But I know that styling hair has its joys.  And that curiosity about how changing one’s look changes one’s sense of self, is part of growing up.  And fashion design is actually an amazing thing.  And some enchanted storytelling can be wonderful.

So I am happy to see how much Bean enjoys the Disney Princess Royal Salon.  And I am super glad we got to review it.  It sure takes up less space in the apartment than the Barbie Head would.

Thanks to Disney for sending us the Disney Princess Royal Salon to review. As always, all opinions are mine and the Bean’s and you better believe were not influenced by anyone.

This post originally appeared on Babies Gotta Have It.

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I refused to wear sandals for years.  As a teen I became convinced that my feet were hideous and should be hidden from the general public for fear the sight of the space between my toes would cause apoplexy.  And then I guess I came to the realization that really my weird toes were the least of my problems, and it was nice to have cool feet in the summer.  And somewhere around that time they invented Tevas and Keens and this tomboy jumped all over that sport sandal trend.

I am pretty certain that Keens are miracle shoes.  We’ve been passed down Keens for Cate in every color and almost every size.  They go from boat to beach, from mud puddle to spray park–and then you wash them and throw them in the dryer…and they look better than the day you were handed them down.  (I want whatever is in Keens to slather all over my face.)

The same cannot be said, however, for the feet which inhabit those sandals.

You know what I can’t stand?  Going to bed with dirty feet.  I have been known, on a dusty summer night, to sit on the side of the tub and indulge in a foot washing.  Too lazy to bathe my entire body.  Entirely refreshed by the simple act of cleansing the tootsies.

But sometimes, when tiny toes have been splashing in the somewhat stagnant puddles of a New York City Sprinkler (don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it) it’s prudent to wash those feet before entering the apartment.  Or even before leaving the park if you think there’s a chance those toes will end up in the mouth two blocks from home.  Because I am committed to the idea that girls should get dirty in the park.  And I am equally committed to the idea of cleaning up afterward.  And for that purpose, I was so very excited to try out the new Fresh Feet Wipes for Kids (and grown ups) by Jasmine Seven.

We were sent the Fresh Feet Wipes for Kids and Fresh Feet Wipes for Grown Ups to try out, and we are in foot pampering heaven.  For Mamas, the adult Fresh Feet wipes are durable, soft and peppermint scented.  They are antibacterial, alcohol free, 99% natural, made with aloe and vitamin E, and so refreshing.  I absolutely love them.  The Wipes for Kids can be used for feet and hands and are grapefruit scented.  Like the grown-up version they are natural and free of all those nasty chemicals and incredibly soft, smooth and durable.  So much more suited for the job than regular old baby wipes.  Bean says they smell “delicious” and feel “great.”

So girls, get out there and splash in those puddles this summer.  Wear your sandals in the mud.  Spend long days barefoot in the sand, knowing you can quickly, easily and refreshingly clean those feet before you fall asleep with the windows open.  And that’s kind of what summer’s all about…don’t you think?

Thanks to the folks at Fresh Feet Wipes for sending us a sample to try. You can find Fresh Feet Wipes on their website, at Walmart or online at our affiliate Amazon.com.

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Ok, yes.  It was doubtlessly important for Disney to address issues of racial diversity first.  Little girls of color have finally been given princesses who, at least on the big screen, look like them.  And it was definitely time.

And then a princess who looks like me rode into town.  I mean, me me.  Except she has a bow and arrows and I have a big fish and a glove.

I am not remotely princessy.  I wear sensible shoes.  I have no idea, really, how to dress myself.  And I’ve always been this way.  And what have I also always been?  A redhead.

A flaming curly-haired, clumsy, giant redhead.

It was my ticket to an epic middle school nickname (“Flame”–thank you Mike Miller) and my own theme song sung by peri-pubescent boys in the hallway (“Flame, I’m gonna burn forever…” sung to the tune of “Fame”) and a pretty big hang-up (I used to go through fashion magazines and calculate the percentage of models with red hair).

I had no interest in makeup or fashion, dolls or dresses…I spent my youth climbing trees, mucking about in creeks and loving cats.

So then I got my very own princess.

Merida is a bad ass.

Until Disney gave her boobs and a 20 inch waist.

They seem to have taken that back…kind of?  I see no evidence of skinny beauty queen Merida on the Disney Princesses website when I look today.  Look, I get it, Disney.  Royal portraiture is hard.  Remember what happened to Kate Middleton?  It is clearly not a simple endeavor.  Still.

As of this moment, Merida’s royal portrait definitely is not like the others.  I imagine at some point a replacement portrait will appear here that is somewhat more in line with the others stylistically.  But I think Disney’s in a bit of a bind.  Because if they unveil a royal portrait that’s truer to the character in the movie, then they may have to confront what they’ve done to all of the other characters in their royal portraits.  Look closely.  Merida’s not the only one who had a makeover for her coronation… Who are these people? Check out Pocahontas.  And Mulan.  Belle.  Even Rapunzel.  Remember Rapunzel’s slight overbite?  I loved that.  In this picture it’s gone.  These are not the characters I remember from the movies.  They look 27.  And waaaaaaaay too pretty.  Like Harlequin romance covers.

When you go to their pages, the new imagery is mixed with the original art from the movies and all kinds of activities and videos (“Beauty and the Beast” nail art?  Remember Belle tripping through town reading a book at the beginning of the  movie? This is not a girl who would spend hours painting claws on her fingernails).  So the real character isn’t gone, totally.  In the new art she’s just grown up, I suppose.  Into a super girly pretty delicate flowery pretty pretty pretty girly girl.

Um, Disney?  Newsflash.  Most of us are regular looking.  We have overbites or one sticky-outy ear, or two different shaped eyes or, you guessed it, a mass of unruly red hair.  And people love us for it.  And think we are beautiful.  And that’s what it took me lots of years to learn.  And what I’d like my daughter to learn a little bit more quickly.

Can you help us out here?  People listen to you.

Take a look at all the royal portraits of the gals on this page.  These movies were hits not because the characters look like they belong on “Gossip Girls.” But because they are charming and silly and sometimes brave.  They also, uniformly, sing quite beautifully. But we’ll overlook that one because it’s fun to sing.

So maybe I don’t have frogs in my pockets now.  Or arrowheads.  Or kittens.  I have my wallet.  And I have an almost six year old.  And I have, I think, a voice.  As do the thousands of other moms who responded very unfavorably to the Merida makeover–the most public of the princess makeovers that, clearly have been going on quietly for years.

So thanks Disney.  For giving us, in Merida, an un-princess.  A princess for the girl with frogs in her pockets.  A princess for red-haired geeks.  Let’s keep her that way.

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So here I am.  A forty-something, decidedly less cool Mama wanting to help guide my daughter toward this realization a decade or so earlier than Sophie…and what I’ve been thinking about since I read Sophie’s post is, how?  How?  How do we help our girls discover for themselves that it’s better to be strong than skinny?

Well, this afternoon I came up with one solution.  Hip hop.  Not on MTV or VH1 or whatever channel now exists that I am way too un-hip to know about.  Take your girls to the theater to see live dancers dance hip hop in front of them.  Cate and I cheered on strong, cool, female dancers who can out-pop, out-crump, out-whatevah cuz lord knows I don’t know what all they were doing, any guy on that stage.  They were flying.  My little ballerina was mesmerized.  And so was I.

So what did we see?  Appropriately dressed, beautiful, athletic, strong, cool, sparkly, acrobatic, unbelievably compelling women of all races dancing.  Hip hop.  With each other and with men.

And they were skinny, yeah, because they dance their butts off for hours each day.  But more than that.  They were strong.  Look at this video.

The show was called RHAW – by Rennie Harris’s company out of Philadelphia.  And let me tell you, they are fierce.  This hot dance company features a wide variety of music and dance styles, all choreographed spectacularly to convey the life of kids growing up in an urban environment.  RHAW was founded as a training company for young dancers with a focus on community outreach, education, and sharing the thrill of hip hop dancing with kids all over.  RHAW plays at the New Victory Theater here in New York until May 26th and if you can, you should take your girls to see it.  It’s 75 minutes including an intermission–perfect length (honestly that’s about what I have in me for dance performances) and somehow even I left the theater feeling like I could pop.  And fly.  And dance.  If you can’t make it to NYC this month, like them on Facebook to keep track of their latest shows.  Or look for a similar company in your area.

Not just skinny.  Strong.  Dance performances like this one, with a powerful message from powerful dancers, are working actively to develop that mentality in our girls.  Now let’s shut up and dance!

Have any other thoughts on the skinny versus strong debate?  How do you hope to show your girls strength in action?

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I think a new PBS Kids series is kind of always a cause for celebration.  But one that is produced by the Fred Rogers Company, stars a spunky little girl and her cat, and teaches early math skills through hilarious adventures?  Maybe that’s cause for a Wednesday morning party!

Peg + Cat, coming in October 2013 to PBS Kids was co-created by folks who previously worked on “The Wonder Pets” and Broadway’s “Rent.” Not a bad pedigree!  It introduces a new heroine for our little girls, Peg, and her sidekick Cat.  The two pals embark upon crazy adventures to such locales as purple planets, Radio City Music Hall and even Romeo and Juliet’s 16th century Verona.  Peg and Cat inevitably end up in a jam and have to use their smarts and some math skills to solve a challenge and save the day.  The show will premiere with a one hour broadcast of two episodes on Monday October 7th, but you can already find Peg and Cat online.  Play some games.  Spend the summer getting to know them.  This is one little gal who I think could become a very good friend.

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So how do you get your little girl interested in camping? There are some great camping toys out there for girls. Check them out!

Look, I’m the first person to say that girls don’t need pink legos.  But this is a cool set.  The Lego Friends Camper includes tons of accessories, cool details, and neat little dolls who apparently barbecue, surf and bicycle. Awesome.

The Ravensburger Camping Adventure Puzzle for kids ages 2 and up has been discontinued, but you can still find it online. I love it.

Every girl’s gotta have her own sleeping bag. The Eureka Lightning Bug one pictured above is pretty cute. There are also great options from my favs, Lands End and LL Bean.

And her own flashlight. This Sunny Patch Mollie Flashlight from Melissa and Doug would be so cute for bedroom camp outs and the real thing!

The crown jewel in the camping toys for girls collection would have to be this absolutely adorable Calico Critters Caravan Family Camper. Thanks to the lovely folks at Calico Critters we had a chance to review this toy and it’s an absolute favorite in our house. Just look at it! Your family of little critters can go camping in a cozy retro camper with a million of the cutest tiny accessories from soaps to board games to all the items a well-stocked camp kitchen could need.

And if the family’s too big to fit in the camper, Calico Critters makes a separate Let’s Go Camping tent set for ever. Adorable!

The big camper connects to the Calico Critters Convertible Coupe for road trips, and the whole set is just great for hours of imaginative play. And role playing. Make the critters skitter inside before they get devoured by mosquitoes. And tell stories in their bunks. And eat smores.

Summertime camping here we come!

This post originally appeared on Babies Gotta Have It

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These days, fairies are all the rage. My little fairy princess is smitten with the wee folk, and over the years I’ve caught glimpses of lots of wonderful new fairy toys…moments before they disappeared under toadstools or dissolved into misty dews. If you’re very quiet and don’t make any sudden moves, this post may be visible to you.

Meet the My Natural Good Earth Fairies from MiYim. Made with natural cotton, stuffed with recycled filling, and packaged in a reusable cardboard box…they really are good fairies. These plush dolls are soft, snuggly and adorable.

Your little one will dance at dawn with the sprites in this enchanting Rainbow Fairy Dress by Sarah’s Silks. Just be sure to remind her she can’t come out of her room until 7 am.

Weave the silk-like threads through the cards to embellish these Fairies of the Field Lacing Cards by eeBoo. Adorable graphics. A fun, quiet activity that encourages hand-eye coordination.

I love Playmobil. And the Playmobil Fairy Garden Set is adorable and reasonably priced. Fairy Birthday Party here you come!

Every fairy needs a home. Building a fairy house with your wee gal is a wonderful way to while away the afternoon…but if you want one to keep, consider a fairy house from Etsy Seller Bonny Baby. Enchanting.

And imagine her surprise when your little one wakes to find her very own fairy at the foot of her bed. My favorites are hand-felted, waldorf-inspired fairies from Etsy sellers like Art of Felting, Willowpoppy and Magic Wool.

Come up here, O dusty feet!
Here is fairy bread to eat.
Here in my retiring room,
Children, you may dine
On the golden smell of broom
And the shade of pine;
And when you have eaten well,
Fairy stories hear and tell.

Robert Louis Stevenson

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The Bean’s first birthday. We had a small family party on the porch of a beach house facing the ocean. I chose a little white knit dress with pink trim made by the Tea Collection for the Birthday Girl. I loved it so much. It’s in the box of keepsakes with the dress she wore home from the hospital and a few of my most treasured little snuggly baby clothes.

I have been a fan of the San Francisco-based Tea Collection ever since. How perfect, then, that Tea offered us some of their new spring clothes to try out right here in the Bay Area when the Bean and her Daddy came out to visit me for two weeks. We spent sunny days eating delicious gelato in Berkeley and hiking in the Marin headlands enjoying gorgeous views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Bean is sporting the Boardwalk V-Neck Dress and Skinny Capri Leggings in Wild Rose, and the Flamenco Drop Waist Dress in Orange in these pics. The designs are gorgeous and inspired by worldwide culture, and the quality is evident. Their baby clothes make gorgeous baby and baby shower gifts and their twirling dresses will satisfy even the most style-conscious preschoolers.

My love affair with the Bay Area continues.

This post originally appeared on Babies Gotta Have It.

Many thanks to Tea Collection for sending us the beautiful clothing to review.  As always, all opinions are firmly our own and were in no way influenced by anyone. 

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I’m hooked on that new NBC show, “Parenthood.” It’s brilliant. Great characters. Great dialogue. The show is as much about the experience of being adult children as it is about being parents of young children. Anyway, a recent Halloween episode really resonated with me. In the episode, Julia, a ultra-high powered corporate lawyer, was thrown into a tailspin when her only daughter, Sidney, announced she wanted to be Miss California for Halloween. Julia spent the episode explaining how far women have come…detailing the history of the women’s rights movement to her ultra-precocious six year old daughter and reminding her how cute last year’s ladybug costume still is. In the end? Julia dressed as Amelia Earhart for Halloween. And Sidney beamed in her Miss California dress and sash. When my daughter announced she wanted to dress up as a princess this year, I cringed. We compromised on “Fairy” princess. Every time someone asked the Bean, “What are you going to be for Halloween?” she answered, “A princess.” And without a beat I chimed in “What kind of princess?” And Bean dutifully answered, “A Fairy princess.” And I felt better.

The first song on Frances England’s fantastic new CD for kids is called “Mind of My Own.” This song has become my anthem. I sure as heck have a mind of my own. And I want the Bean to have one too. I’m not going to let you lump my child into the pack of kids dressed as identical princesses on Halloween. She’s no cookie cutter. She’s got a mind of her own! But of course, as that episode of “Parenthood” makes painfully clear, that mind of her own may not always be in accord with mine! Sidney triumphed. She dressed as Miss California. Yes indeed, Mama, she’s got a mind of her own. So Miss California, or simply “A Princess” it is. Frances England’s song manages simultaneously to validate my desires for my child to be her own person, and to validate her point of view, even when it differs from mine.

“Some day I’ll be the one, who makes all my decisions. And someday I’ll be the one who decides what time I go to bed. Who knows just where I’ll lay my head. Or maybe I’ll just stay up instead.”

Check out “Mind of My Own” by Frances England…if you dare. It will remind you that you have a mind of your own. But guess what? So does she.

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So here’s the dilemma my friend Gretchen faced last night. At one single moment in time her husband was attending a class, her son was playing in a baseball game and on a completely different field, her daughter was playing in a T-ball game. I have heard that Mamas are supposed to be superheroes, but unless someone has really figured out how to bend space and time, there’s pretty much no way that my friend Gretchen can see both of those games at once. Yet, of course, she did.

However, as much as I desire to tout the amazing and tireless Mamas who somehow do manage to be two…or three…or four places at once, my favorite part of this story is that my friend’s six-year-old daughter was playing T-ball. Now, she also dances and does gymnastics and is in every way a model for my little Bean who is already wearing her hand-me-down leotards. Today’s tomboys and girly-girls have so many more options beyond climbing trees and styling Barbie’s hair on a giant free-standing head. Today’s preschoolers and high school girls are dancing and playing lacrosse and soccer and tennis and basketball, and I love it so much.

Active girls want active dolls. Dolls like the Go! Go! Sports Girls from the Dream Big Toy Company. I first met Jodi, the founder of The Dream Big Toy Company at Toy Fair. Jodi has a daughter and has coached girls through “Girls on the Run,” a program that encourages girls to make healthy choices through running. She gets it. And these dolls are awesome. They are sporty. They are snuggly. They have cute uniforms. They come with accessories. They are for ages 3 to 12. And they play sports! Real, active, sweaty sports like soccer, tennis, basketball, softball, and golf. They also dance, run, swim, and do gymnastics. And there are new Go! Go! Sports Girls arriving all the time! They are proving hugely popular and I can see why. I dig them.

Because princesses are okay and all, but tennis players rock. Have you ever seen Serena play? And soccer players. Love that World Cup. And basketball players. WNBA woot! And runners. And…

Look for Go! Go! Sports Girls online at Amazon.com, Target and elsewhere.

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