Parenting: You're Doing it Right

Often while working at Disney I find myself saying the catch phrase "Parenting: you're doing it wrong" to my co-workers over and over again. I've sat by watching a kid ask his dad the same question 13 times while his dad ignored him and focused on texting instead. I've seen parents watch their kids rudely cut in line, grab the stamp from out my hand or throw their passports in my face and not said anything about it. And lastly I've had a 7 year old boy come up to me and say "My Duffy is a serial killer! Slash, slash! I'm going to cut off your head with a machete and kill your mom!" meanwhile the mom just stood there and said nothing. I was appalled.

But for every parent I see like this, there is one that really stands out, and yesterday I met that family.

At Disney there is a thing called pin trading where you can buy different pins and trade them with fellow guests. Cast members are allowed to do it too which is super fun and I'm so excited to be a part of that tradition. Now why have I gone from talking about bad parents to pin trading? Well pin trading is the way I got to meet this wonderful family. I was working at Kidcot (an activity area for kids) when a mother and her two sons (about 12 and 9) came up to get their Duffy Bears stamped. As I was busy drawing the Canadian flag for them on the back of their Duffy Bear the mom says to the 9 year old "Look sweetie, she has a Princess Tiana pin! You love Tiana" and the boy nodded his head then politely asked me if I would trade him my Tiana pin for one of his.

At first I was a little shocked seeing as half my lanyard was princess pins and the other half was pirates to make sure I had pins worth trading with both genders. But it made me so happy to see a young boy who had a favourite princess and who wanted the pin of her face surrounded by a flower. So I gladly gave him my pin. Then his mom said "We got to meet Tiana yesterday at Magic Kingdom" and I was like "Wow, that's awesome! I love Tiana, she's so pretty!" and the 12 year old boy chimed in and said "I like Tiana because she's so hard working! She had to go through being a frog and finding a way to break the spell before she could even open her own shop. I really like that about her!" and then the mom said "That's right sweetie, we like how she ends up marrying the prince but instead of hanging out in a castle she puts her prince to work in her shop" and the boys agreed and continued to tell me all the things they loved about Tiana.

By the end of my conversation I was amazed. Not only did these two boys break the mold and idolize a Disney princess, but they idolized her for all the right reasons. Not because of her looks, but because of her strength, determination and work habits. And on top of that they were both very polite without having to be told which is a rare thing at Kidcot.

So to that mother and her two wonderful sons, I'd just like to tell you, thank you. You were all an inspiration and a fine example of how there are good parents in this world.

Anyways, I thought I'd share this story because it's one I never want to forget.

I hope something wonderful happens to brighten your day too!

♥ Megan