With three girls under six, it is all pink, all the time in our house. One wears an impromptu veil, and the other two hold the train and walk behind with great solemnity - as much as a diaper clad chubby two year old can muster.
As a professional mother, I am constantly thinking about how to form our girls into loving, generous, competent young women who care for others. How does one avoid the pitfalls of materialistic secular hedonism without becoming a crank? Enter the saintly beautiful princess!
Grandduchess Elizabeth is our model, along with several other canonized queens and princesses or minor aristocrats like Martyr Catherine of Alexandria. Instead of using the idea that a princess is waited on hand and foot and gets to do whatever she wants, these women served the poor and many witnessed to their faith with their lives. Maria Tobias wrote a beautiful biography, Ella's Story: The Duchess Who Became a Saint, telling the life of a twentieth century martyr who began life as a German princess and granddaughter of Britain's Queen Victoria. She married the brother of the Russian Tsar. After he was assassinated, Elizabeth gave most of her wealth to found a convent, the Sisters of Mary and Martha. She served those who hated her and even after being thrown down a shaft to die, she bandaged the wounds of the man next to her.
Ella was named for her distant relative and saint, Queen Elizabeth of Hungary. The opening scene of the book reads this way:
Ella sat down with a sigh on the chair in her bedroom. She rubbed her sore feet and tried to pin back her long, blonde hair. Normally she felt a sense of peace in this room that she shared with her sister, Victoria, but not today. She was almost too tired to feel anything.
"Why does Mama always make us help her care for others," she thought with resentment. "Why do we have to work so hard when it's almost Christmas!"..."Ninety-one children!" thought Ella as she looked down at her hands, red from the hot plates she had rushed to the table all evening. I don't see why we had to give them a party. It's not like anyone else we know gives parties for their servants."
What a relief! Her mother was striving to teach her daughter well, it was resented, but ended up bearing wonderful fruit. "Ella" is written for 10-12 year olds, but suitable for all ages. I also like everything written by British author Enid Blyton, the Swallows and Amazons series and The Boxcar Children series (first 19 by the original author). Does anyone else have non-saccharine books for children which tell a riveting story of adventure and sacrifice?
Reading along with you,
Beth
This is a great idea, Beth. There are so many unhelpful role models out there, that parents need to intentionally counteract them with some positive ones (of course, we have to define what "positive" is). On the news this morning they highlighted the new book "Alpha Girls" which describes the new culture among young women based on the fact that they haven't experienced any discrimination and fully expect to go into any job they chose. This strikes me as both powerful and dangerous. If this new found confidence can be channelled into service (instead of chasing powerful jobs) we might be able to make a difference.
Posted by: Philomena | October 02, 2006 at 01:23 PM
There's a great book by Gary Schmidt which won a Newberry called "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" for 6-9 grade age group. It's about courage in the face of racism, and it's just wonderful. Your daughters may be a bit young yet, but my all time favorite story of adventure, courage, and sacrifice is "To Kill a Mockingbird".
Posted by: Erin | October 05, 2006 at 01:49 PM