Superhero Magical Princess

I know some of you may be shocked, but we occasionally (okay, frequently) have discipline issues with Allison.  Mostly, she refuses to stay in bed at night.  We’ve tried a number of different techniques to deal with it, the most recent of which I refer to as ‘mommy play-time’. 

The method is simple:  what Allison loves to do more than anything in the world is playing barbies.  If she gets ready for bed without arguing or throwing fits, she gets to have mommy play-time for 15 minutes before her bedtime story.  If she is disobedient throughout the day, we take off mommy play-time minutes.  Simple, but brilliant, if I do say so myself.  And it’s really worked wonders; Allison has been doing much better lately.

The one flaw in this plan is that I am always the one who puts Allison to bed.  We decided to correct this minor glitch by instating ‘daddy play-time’ one evening.  Allie did not take the news well.  “Oh no, not DADDY play-time!” she screamed furiously.  We stood our ground.

Five minutes later, teeth brushed and PJs on, Allison waited in her room resignedly for Chris to show up with the newest editions to his collection:  The Hulk (complete with sword and shield) and Spiderman 2099.

Despite the fact that Allison is about as girly as they come, she has had some experience with superheroes.  Her barbie box is rather lacking in the prince department, so Juggernaut and Hulk are often asked to step in.  They are invited to Balls when dance partners are needed.  They make infrequent appearances as ‘Daddy’.  I have even seen Belle rescue her husband, Juggernaut, from the evil Hulk [“Don’t worry Cinderella, I can save him. I’m BRAVE!”].  But these were not quite the games Chris had in mind for daddy play-time.

He tried to show her how the superheroes could battle it out with their weapons, but before they could start, Allison insisted upon removing Hulk’s shield [“That might poke somebody, Daddy”].  She then proceeded to select Cinderella as her action hero.  Cinderella picked up Hulk’s sword and began whacking Spiderman 2099 with it.  “Piñata! Piñata! Piñata!” yelled Allie emphatically.

Apparently, my daughter’s weaponry education has been so poor that the only thing she could think to do with something long and bat-like was re-enact the piñata portion of her third birthday party.  I won’t say I’m not pleased, and I can’t wait to hear what happens at the next daddy play-time.