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How I Became Known as Prince Chris

It was this year’s Santa Claus Parade where it was made official. As the amazing staff from Official Princess Parties drew closer to us, my daughter lit up with the joy of a child whose magical belief of princesses always makes me think back to my youth. As they often do, the princesses spotted her, waved, called her name and made her feel like the most special child in the world.

Something different happened this time though.

One of the princesses, Ariel, if you’re keeping track, looked over and said “Hello, Prince Chris”, to which my friends immediately shot my a sideways glance. I’m not sure whether it was because of the fact that she knew my name or the fact that my wife had little to no reaction to the shout out, but I think I managed to explain it to them in a way that didn’t make me look creepy. I won’t go through that process with all of you, instead opting to link to a few times I’ve run in to the amazing princesses from this company, such as Here, Here and Here, plus countless others at smaller events.

Now that I have officially been dubbed, Prince Chris, I feel like I will fit in a lot better at this year’s Official Princess Parties “Royal Ball” on Feb 23rd. I’ve been spending the last few months practicing my royal dance moves and trying to eat properly so the food doesn’t end up on my shirt. It’s a work in progress… Aaaaanyway, I hope to see you at the Royal Ball on Feb 23rd, and don’t worry, it is not necessary to kiss my royal hand. It’s more of a mandatory thing.

Prince Chris, signing off.

Official Princess Royal Ball

How Princesses Provided A Fairy Tale Ending For One Little Girl

Official Princess Parties

The opinions on Princess culture run from those who love everything about the fairy tale stories, to those who think princesses are ruining our little girls and driving us further into debt with all the commercialization. I have always been in the middle. I love how much my little girl adores the princess culture but I don’t think it’s turning her into anything more than a little girl who has found something she loves.

I had a change of opinion this past week, however, when something amazing happened. My friend Christine, who blogs for “Life on Manitoulin”, was forced to take an emergency helicopter ride with her 4 year old daughter, who was experiencing severe stomach pains. When they got to Ottawa and were released from CHEO, following the little one’s surgery, I got the chance to spend some time with them. Her little one, tough as nails by the way, started telling me all about her favourite princesses, as little girls do.

Christine had asked me if I thought we would be able to hire a princess on such short notice and seeing as how I am no stranger to hanging out with and writing about all things princess, I decided to try to help out. I called Official Princess Parties, a company that has already impressed me in the past, and I definitely wasn’t prepared for the kindness that followed.

I explained why I needed someone on such short notice and the owner mentioned that they were all booked up for the next couple weeks, but would send out a feeler to see if anyone was interested in the extra work. Not one minute later, while we were still on the phone, she had already received 3 messages back with people saying they wanted to help out. That would have been enough for me to sing their praises but the owner then mentioned that she wanted to provide this visit, to cheer up a scared little girl, on the house, and my heart exploded. Our princess showed up that night and had everyone mesmerized and smiling from ear to ear. She was perfect and it is exactly the thing that little girl needed at that moment.

Long story short, you can think whatever you want about the effects of princess culture, but this single event and watching the joy on that little girl’s face was enough to convince me of the overwhelming positives that can come from it. At the pace life is moving these days, sometimes it’s just nice to let kids be kids, and when it comes to princesses, I am fine with doing just that. Thank you to the amazing staff at Official Princess Parties for making this little girl’s pain a little more bearable.

Princess Funny Faces

Princess Beauty Julia

Princess Tiara