Drama Daddy: Immersed in the Magic

My family and I recently returned from six great days at Walt Disney World in Orlando. For my daughter Clare, it was magical. Dressed in a princess dress for dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table and another for a Princess Breakfast in Epcot’s World Showcase, Clare was with her people—dozens (if not hundreds or thousands over the course of a week) of other girls in their princess dresses too.

I know that Disney has its naysayers and critics. And there are those who don’t like the idea of letting young girls act too much like princesses. With trips to the Magic Kingdom and the collection of princess dresses and accessories that Clare has collected, you might think that we’re letting the princess thing go a little far too. But Clare is five, and magic and imagination are a big part of her world. As long as we balance it with enough reality when and where it’s needed, I don’t see a problem.

At Disney World, Clare gets to immerse herself in the wonder of being a princess. And, for a few days, her Mom and I get to step into the magic too.

Last week while we were in Florida, a terrible national tragedy occurred. The mass shootings at Virginia Tech dominated television and radio news, print media, and conversations nationwide. At Disney World though, I never even heard the incident mentioned except when we turned on TV news during the afternoon or evening. It may be another criticism that we could lose ourselves in Disney magic when the rest of the country is mourning over a massacre that, in one way or another, affects us all. As parents, it’s impossible to send children to preschool, Kindergarten, grade school, high school or college without thinking of the frightening loss of lives that has occurred in recent years at all levels of schooling. But, as with all things, we must find a balance. For me, letting young princesses and princes be affected by the tragedy while they’re on their vacations to the Magic Kingdom isn’t part of that balance.

Any political discussion aside, I believe that Franklin Roosevelt was inspired when he consoled the country following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. We do have nothing to fear but fear itself. Certainly, all precautions should be taken and all laws that could potentially reduce the number of murders should be passed. But, we can never let fear prevent us from living, whether living means boarding a bus to school or boarding a plane to Florida. And, we should try to let our tragedies affect as few people as possible, which means that a five year-old princess on vacation didn’t need to hear last week’s news.

Clare’s Mom and I haven’t spoken to Clare about the shootings at Virginia Tech. As far as I know, Clare isn’t even aware of them. If she had asked, we would have struggled to give her answers as best as we could, but would have preferred not talk about it with her yet. Clare’s Mom and I couldn’t escape the news and eventually had to return to the real world and think about the tragedy. But for Clare, there may be a few magical years left in a perfect princess world.

I am curious how other parents have dealt with speaking about the incident at Virginia Tech. At what age do you talk to your children about such things? And how? Unfortunately, I’m sure that the day will come when we do have to explain a terrible tragedy to Clare. In the meantime, God bless all those affected by last week’s incident, God bless the parents and children who are struggling to answer the questions that it has raised, and God bless the magic makers who can take us and our young children away from these harsh realities if only for a short time.