209 Marbles I wish someone would have told me, that just because I'm a girl, I don't have to get married.
Marlo Thomas
The Princess kissed the frog,
He turned into a prince.
And they lived happily ever after…
Well, let’s just say they lived sort of
Happily for a long time.
Okay, so they weren’t so happy.
In fact, they were miserable.
“Stop sticking your tongue out like that,” nagged the Princess.
“How come you never want to go down to the pond anymore?” whined the Prince.
The Prince and the Princess were so unhappy.
They didn’t know what to do.
Jon Scieszka, “The Frog Prince Continued”
I’d been thinking about happy endings (Marble 219) when I came across the photographer Dina Goldstein’s website “Fallen Princesses” (http://www.fallenprincesses.com/fallenprincesses.html). She’s taken a set of ten amazing photos of the not-so-happily-ever-after. There’s Snow White with her unemployed prince watching a polo match from the couch as her almost seven dwarfs (aka kids) hang from her hips (I think a few too many women could relate to this one). There’s “Not-so-little Red Riding Hood” in her over-sized cape munching on a basket of fast food. There’s a youthful, still-sleeping Beauty lounging in a senior’s home as her forlorn aged prince sits on her bed. They’re a delightfully whimsical and satirical poke at our fascination with fairy tales.
When my kids were younger, one of my favorite storybooks of theirs was Jon Scieszka’s “The Frog Prince Continued.” This story is the perfect wedding gift as it chronicles a real fairy tale and the inevitable moment when the charming characteristics of prince turn into gnawing nuisances. The Princess rants at the Frog Prince, “First you keep me awake all night with your horrible, croaking snore. Now I find a lily pad in your pocket. I can’t believe I actually kissed your slimy frog lips. Sometimes I think we would both be better off if you were still a frog.” Huh, I’m sure a few moms, dads, and kids can relate to this bickering (minus the lily pad). How quick the path from attraction to annoyance but the Frog Prince comes full circle and kisses his Princess and “they both turned into frogs. And they hopped off happily ever after.”
The trick is that happiness is my choice, despite countless fairy tales that claim otherwise. I can never bank on another person to bring me my happy ending. Whereas this breakup appears to be the opposite of a happy ending, is it really? Maybe it is just my happy beginning. The choice is mine…
And I don't believe in such a thing as "happily ever after". There's only happily every now and then. I find the hardest trick is to recognize the now-and-thens, and to bask in them when they come. Happiness is a choice we make, like how to wear our hair, or having coffee with breakfast and tea at night. Cindy Bonner, "The Passion of Dellie O'Barr"
What do you choose?
Marlo Thomas
The Princess kissed the frog,
He turned into a prince.
And they lived happily ever after…
Well, let’s just say they lived sort of
Happily for a long time.
Okay, so they weren’t so happy.
In fact, they were miserable.
“Stop sticking your tongue out like that,” nagged the Princess.
“How come you never want to go down to the pond anymore?” whined the Prince.
The Prince and the Princess were so unhappy.
They didn’t know what to do.
Jon Scieszka, “The Frog Prince Continued”
I’d been thinking about happy endings (Marble 219) when I came across the photographer Dina Goldstein’s website “Fallen Princesses” (http://www.fallenprincesses.com/fallenprincesses.html). She’s taken a set of ten amazing photos of the not-so-happily-ever-after. There’s Snow White with her unemployed prince watching a polo match from the couch as her almost seven dwarfs (aka kids) hang from her hips (I think a few too many women could relate to this one). There’s “Not-so-little Red Riding Hood” in her over-sized cape munching on a basket of fast food. There’s a youthful, still-sleeping Beauty lounging in a senior’s home as her forlorn aged prince sits on her bed. They’re a delightfully whimsical and satirical poke at our fascination with fairy tales.
When my kids were younger, one of my favorite storybooks of theirs was Jon Scieszka’s “The Frog Prince Continued.” This story is the perfect wedding gift as it chronicles a real fairy tale and the inevitable moment when the charming characteristics of prince turn into gnawing nuisances. The Princess rants at the Frog Prince, “First you keep me awake all night with your horrible, croaking snore. Now I find a lily pad in your pocket. I can’t believe I actually kissed your slimy frog lips. Sometimes I think we would both be better off if you were still a frog.” Huh, I’m sure a few moms, dads, and kids can relate to this bickering (minus the lily pad). How quick the path from attraction to annoyance but the Frog Prince comes full circle and kisses his Princess and “they both turned into frogs. And they hopped off happily ever after.”
The trick is that happiness is my choice, despite countless fairy tales that claim otherwise. I can never bank on another person to bring me my happy ending. Whereas this breakup appears to be the opposite of a happy ending, is it really? Maybe it is just my happy beginning. The choice is mine…
And I don't believe in such a thing as "happily ever after". There's only happily every now and then. I find the hardest trick is to recognize the now-and-thens, and to bask in them when they come. Happiness is a choice we make, like how to wear our hair, or having coffee with breakfast and tea at night. Cindy Bonner, "The Passion of Dellie O'Barr"
What do you choose?
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