Someday my ... Batman? ... will come!

So for the past few months, Eliza and I have had the privilege of having lunch with my dear friend, Will, on Monday's! Will and I have been friends since we were like 17, and he was my boyfriend's best friend. It's been really great to spend time with Will again since I moved back here especially this Spring and Summer!

I've never really had a friend that I got to do something with consistently on a weekly basis since I had Eliza, and I've really enjoyed our lunches! Sometimes we have other ambiguous friends join us as well which is a great pleasure too! But it's been a great way to start the week! It can get lonely as a mom, as I'm sure many people know, and I wish our Monday lunches with Will had started a lot sooner! We usually go to a Chic-fil-a where Eliza can flit in and out of the kids' play place while we chat.

A few Monday's ago a WONDERFUL conversation ensued as a result of Eliza's interactions with a little friend she met on the play place.

Eliza came back to our booth and looked a little bummed, and I asked her if something was wrong. She was like, "Uhhh, no." But then she said that her new friend, a little boy named Ethan, didn't want to play with her. Awww. I asked Eliza what happened....

As many of you know, Eliza LOVES to play the game of pretend. Apparently she had been trying to convince Ethan to play the Princess genre of pretend, telling him that she was the Little Mermaid and he was to be Prince Eric.

Eliza told us that Ethan refused, however, and told her, "No. I want to be Batman!"And then, in frustration and confusion, they parted ways.

When Eliza came and told us the story, we couldn't help but laugh. We decided that this dilemma between the sexes is not a new one, nor does it necessarily dissipate with age!

Girls still want to be princesses. AND they want the boys they meet to become their princes.

Boys still want to be super heroes. And if a girl happens to come along, they'll probably agree to play with them (but only if it involves a fight! jk).

I find it interesting and a little bit sad, though, that most little girls grow up with these Disney princess stories that almost all seem to end with getting the guy, getting pretty dresses, and getting married in order for their happily ever after to come along.

(And it's disturbing for me, as a mom of a princess-crazed 3 yr old to happen upon her picking leaves off of a bush, saying, "He loves me! He loves me not. He loves me! He loves me not...")

Meanwhile, boys are learning about being tough, fighting evil, and using weapons.

I worry that this leaves girls codependent and boys emotionally stunted.

And then at some point in their adult lives, they're supposed to combine/shed these delusional media influences and find some sort of common ground.

However, I think this might mean that men and women still continue to play games, but not realizing that they're playing a different one than their counterparts.

So now I plan to hide all the barbies and let Eliza only watch violent cartoons featuring super heroes for the rest of her childhood leisure time. She'll thank me the next time she wants to have a conversation with a boy... or have to fight off some ninjas to save a wimpy boyfriend! Either way, she'll be ready!