The One About Glitter, Dreams, and the Little Mermaid
We were doing something that we’ve done dozens of times - Alexis and I were cuddled up on the couch watching The Little Mermaid. It is and has always been her favorite Disney movie, but for some reason, we hadn’t watched it together in probably a year or so.
Still, I should have figured it out sooner.
As Alexis focused on the action happening on the screen, occasionally reciting lines of the movie along with the characters, I sat focused on Alexis. She is the kid who has never met a shiny thing she didn’t want to own. She marvels at the world every time she turns a corner. She walks through life swishing her tail and singing a song. She has her own voice, her own way of viewing the world, and she’s going to follow her heart no matter what anybody says.
Sound familiar?
I should have realized it years ago. After all, the writing was on the GIANT MIRRORED WALL.
Ariel. Ariel is and has always been Alexis’ favorite Disney Princess. Ariel. Alexis. Ariel = Alexis.
Is there a correlation between your favorite Disney Princess and your personality? I can’t say for sure, but at least in the case of Alexis, HOOBOY, IS THERE EVER.
(An aside, my favorite Disney Princess is Jasmine. You know, the stubborn, independent cat lover. Ummm … yeah.)
There is one glaring difference between The Little Mermaid and Alexis’ life, however. While King Triton was busy trying to force Ariel to live her life the way he wanted her to live it, I’m all FOLLOW THAT PATH, GIRL! I don’t need Alexis to run away and give her voice to an evil sea witch for me to figure out that she’s a very different person from me. Her happiness is dependent on her finding her voice and following her dreams.
Alexis and I may never agree on the value of sparkly things, the importance of pompoms, or the joy to be found in singing a song all day long, but she knows I love her all the same. Glitter and all.
The Little Mermaid will be available for the first time on Blu-ray Combo Pack and HD Digital October 1st. To celebrate, Disney and BlogHer are offering you a chance to win $50 Visa Gift Card and a Little Mermaid Diamond Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack. To enter to win, just tell me in the comments below: How do you encourage your children to follow their dreams?
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: ""#SweepstakesEntry""; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post"
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 9/9/13 - 10/15/13.
Be sure to visit the Disney's Little Mermaid page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Reader Comments (176)
I always love the Little Mermaid. I remember watching it a bunch of times as a kid. I would watch it again now, and I don't have kids! Maybe I will win...?
I let my kids explore what they want and support them when they find something.
My daughter loved Superheroes when she was three. We had to call her The Flash or Green Lantern for a while. Slowly she began to get into tutus and would wear a tutu with her Flash t-shirt and Spider-man sneakers. It was awesome. She's now a Disney Princess whenever she can be!
I just make sure my kids know that I will help them in any way to pursue what their dreams are.
Giving them the freedom to try what THEY want, encouraging their decisions even when it's not what I would choose. There's a lot to be said for raising children to believe they can do anything they want.
https://twitter.com/LittlePunkyPie/status/384372446171631617
tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/384839673144569857
I always let them try out new things
We encourage interests and offer lots of chances to be themselves!
I let my child be free. She is 3 and very independent.
I tried to expose my kids to lots of varied experiences so they would know what they loved to do.
Tweet
https://twitter.com/clc408/status/385051987177271296
Ariel is my daughters favorite. We encourage this by homeschooling and along with the main subjects, we also learn about their favorite things.
lots of praise and positivity
kport207 at gmail dot com
I make sure she knows that I believe she can do anything she sets her mind to. And, every summer, she got to pick new activities that she wanted to try (think gymnastics, guitar, piano, swimming, horseback riding.........) and I'd get her into lessons or classes to learn.
We help them with encouragement and the ablility to try out their dreams. If they think they want to do karate then we allow them to try it out. If they want to play softball then we let them play. We let them try out different things so that they can find what they like. Thank you!
I give them direction but also set boundaries and let them explore as much as they can!
by being supportive and encouraging them in their activities
i posted a tweet: https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/385557514957234176
Just let them know it's okay to follow their dreams whatever they are
We let them know we are always there for them no matter what their dreams, that dreams should be followed and fullfilled
i read him stories to encourage his imagination!
https://twitter.com/scg00387/status/386319876236640256
give em lots of praises
I help my nephew be him self but loving him for self and not turning him i want him to be
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/386919951262429184
By allowing them to try new things as they wish.
I don't have kids, but I encourage my niece by telling her how smart and beautiful she is.
austma7@aol.com
By being supportive of their likes and dreams and providing them the path to follow them in.
I encourage their dreams by giving them love and prayers.
By homeschooling them. They have the opportunity to spend the majority of their days following their own interests.
I encourage my kids by always believing in them. No matter what I always support them with love,
I encourage my kids to follow their dreams by supporting their ideas and the things they want to do. We work together to find a way to make the things happen that they want. At the same time, we instill realistic limits. We can't fly into today, but if we study hard and work at it, we can get into NASA in the future and fly to space then :) You can have what you want, you just have to find a way to make it happen :)
Tweeted :) - https://twitter.com/Enter_Now/status/387131314572242944
I always wanted to be a doctor and unfortunately due to my parent's illness I had to go to work and help support the family and my dream of becoming a physician was lost. I have encouraged my kids to follow whatever dreams they may have, to be focused and anything is possible if you work hard and be consistent in your behavior to do what you always wanted to do. I lead by example and I am currently enrolled in school to get my degree and hopefully med school will be in my future
I tweeted here:
https://twitter.com/sufferngal/status/387242262763040769
I always praise my children and remind them they can be anything they want to be if the try
I have always told my children when they were younger to follow their dreams.
Live your own dreams and your children will learn from that
I let me kids try different things they are interested in and always encourage them to try their best.
tweet
https://twitter.com/Kellydpa/status/387402339612504064
I encourage my son my supporting his ideas and teaching him to work hard
I tell them to study hard in school to do good in life.
I encourage their interests and tell them they can do anything they set their minds to.
I encourage my granddaughter in dance by going to her practices and recitals.
smchester at gmail dot com
Lead by example. Words go in one ear and out the other
By encouraging them not to be afraid to try new things
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/388338358335709184
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I support them, encourage their creativity, and try to give them the best tools that they need to follow their dreams and interest.
I tell them they can do anything they want to do.
I don't have kids, but my parents encouraged and applauded my interests. And as an adult I did indeed follow my dreams.