So Many Twist Ties

Sabrina likes princesses. Specifically, Disney princesses. This isn’t exactly noteworthy, since a great many 3 year old girls revere the Disney princesses (really nice marketing on that one, Mickey). But the thing is, I never introduced them, didn’t encourage the devotion, and probably tried to distract her from them when at all possible (oh hey, let’s go play with these puzzles… or draw some pictures… or look, it’s Dora). I fully believe my daughter was born with a database in her head for every character, logo, brand, or merchandising figurehead ever devised or that ever will be devised. And that’s how she learned about the Disney princesses.

But that’s neither here nor there, because the fact is, the princesses are IT for Sabrina. If something has a princess face slapped on it somewhere, she can spot it from 100 yards and wants it, nay, needs it, right this very minute. Even if she doesn’t know what the thing behind the princess is. Doesn’t matter. PRINCESS.

Bonus points if it’s pink (the only color in the universe). Sleeping Beauty is the favorite because she’s got the pink dress.

For the past several weeks, Sabrina has been perusing the toy catalogs that anticipate Black Friday as if she were cramming for a test. And she has kept coming back to the Disney princess castle that every retailer in America has priced at $150 (princess dolls not included, natch). Of all the things she says she wants for Christmas (and there are so many), this one has made the most repeat appearances. The problem is, it breaks Santa’s budget.

I lamented this holiday dilemma to my parents, who promptly took to the internet to find an alternative. And they did, for a little more than half the price. Still expensive, and since Santa has already crossed a few things off Sabrina’s list, not entirely doable. So my folks played the grandparent card and said they’d get it. I didn’t feel right about that because they’ve got 5 other grandkids to consider, among other things, and it just didn’t seem like a fair solution. But, then a beam of light shown down from heaven and reminded me of the giant merchandise credit I had just sitting there, waiting for an opportunity like this, and I pulled that bad boy up and clicked purchase.

When the doorbell rang this afternoon, I knew what it was. But I wasn’t prepared for the utter hugeness of the box. Really, it was 3 feet tall and almost as wide. I imagined a wealth of packing peanuts inside. No. Not a single one. Because there wasn’t enough space for one. The castle fit snuggly in the delivery box. Oh, sweet cherries jubilee, this thing is massive. I had to take it out to the lawnshed just to keep it from little eyes coming home from school. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it until Christmas. But I do know 2 things. It will take forever to untie all of those bitty figurines from their Styrofoam prisons, and I cannot wait until Christmas morning, because this girl is going to lose her fool mind. It’s gonna be awesome.