Let the Frozen princess go!

We are enduring a bout of Frozenmania. On the weekends, Alannah is allowed to choose a film to watch in the early evening, usually taking over two nights. For the month of May - is it only that long! - the flavour has been "Frozen". A modern take on Hans Christian Anderson's "Snow Queen, "Frozen" does not have a hero and a villain, but two people who are the Yin and the Yan of the same character. And Alannah - and her mother - adore it. They burst into song whilst wafting down the stairs. Make jokes about headless bodies whilst shovelling porridge drowned in honey. Which is why the visit to the library today filled with with so much hope. The two of them had spent an hour on the sofa in the morning sun, reading Enid Blyton's "The Magic Faraway Tree", and this put Kirsten's brain to work.

Last week they borrowed "The Princess and the Peas". Alannah does not need encouragement to aspire to princesshood. She was astounded that, come the end of this book, Lily-Rose May decided to revoke her membership of that particular order. Alannah's aspirations lay in tatters. "But, WHY would she decide that?" she wailed EACH AND EVERY TIME!

Alannah goes to ballet each Saturday morning, and is forever pirouetting down the garden path, or at barre practising tippee-toe stuff. On Sunday she performs in a concert. Her favourite colour is pink, but she will allow rainbow colours - in an acceeptable shade of the original, mind you. No room on that palette for olive, grey, or poo-brown. Today, however, at the library, they went to investigate chapter books for young readers. Kirsten is forever asking me to remember details of her childhood. This morning I was hit with "What were Alastair's favourite books when he was six?" (Alastair being her brother.) Blimey! His all-time favourite was "Goodnight Mister Tom" but he was older than 6. So I listed a few when he was aged between 6 and 12. Quite an age range, I agree. A list like: Goodnight Mister Tom The Smiler trilogy The Phantom Tollbooth Charlotte's Web Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Giraffe, the Pelly & Me The BFG The Borrowers There's an Indian in the Cupboard They came home with bundles of Roald Dahl. They drove into the garage, then joined Juliet, myself and Sellie on the verge in the sun, and began to read "The Magic Finger". This evening Kirsten started "The BFG" and Darren started to read Alannah "George's Marvellous Medicine".

According to "The Princess and the Peas", you should be diagnosed withe disease of Princesshood if you are: quite pretty; polite; and, allergic to peas. Add to that: adore pink, squeal at spiders, choose your own clothes from under two, and wear ONLY dresses. Luckily, Alannah gardened with me this afternoon, and took great delight in all the massive, juicy wormie-woms that my pitchfork kept on turning over. I'll cure her yet!

And, yes, there is another little girl growing up under our roof. But she is only 8 months, and I feel sure no-one qualifies to be a princess un til at least 18 months.