My Dear New Friend,

Hello Dear Friend:

 

I’m Amelia, the author, and the mom. My children, Isabella and Sophia, love princess stories.  And, now, so do I.

 

One night, after reading Cinderella, the girls said, naturally,  “Read it again!”  Instead of doing that, I continued with the rest of the Cinderella story. I told them the following:

Cinderella moved to the Castle, and loved the new Kingdom and all of her privileges. However, she was bored. After all, her whole life she’d been working, day after day, tirelessly cleaning, fixing, mending, and serving her Wicked Stepmother and Nasty Stepsisters. Ever since she’d married The Prince she hadn’t lifted a finger to do any work of any kind. Didn’t clean. Didn’t fix. Didn’t mend. Didn’t serve. Now, everyone was waiting on her. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it. It was just, well, boring. She didn’t even sing as much as she used to. Something was wrong.
 

Then, one day, Cinderella had an idea. She was standing on one of the castle’s outdoor terraces when she realized she wanted more. But, how would she tell The Prince?  She knew he’d given her everything he could imagine she’d want. Would he be upset when she told him her dream?  Well, thought Cinderella, I’ll have to find out.
 

Just then, her handsome Prince joined her. He noticed her heavy heart. “What’s wrong My Princess?” he said.

 

She turned to him. “I’m so happy to be here in the castle with you, and I love you, My Prince, but I just can’t take all of this sitting around and going to parties, and meeting with other Royals. It is fun. But, honestly, it’s not my dream. I want to do something else.”

The Prince replied, “Cinderella, you know I’d do anything to help you.  What else would you love to do?”

 

Cinderella took a breath, and said, “Remember when you were looking for me, and you had your footman carry my glass slipper all over the kingdom?  Well,” she said as she gestured towards their large kingdom, “every woman out there – young and old – tried it on. Even though it only fit me, they all got to see it, and, they all loved it. But I’m the only one in our whole kingdom who has glass slippers.”

 

“I don’t understand,” said The Prince.
 

Cinderella mustered her courage and told him her idea, “My Prince, I want to create a Glass Slipper Factory where I can make glass slippers for all of the girls in the kingdom. I want to make high heeled glass slippers, flat glass slippers, sparkly glass slippers, and colored glass slippers. I want to make glass slippers filled with jewels, and flowers, and other beautiful things. I want to be in the Glass Slipper Business.”

And, that’s how Princesses With a Twist began. Sitting in bed, with my daughters... Just like that.
 

Isabella and Sophia listened, mesmerized.  When Cinderella called Snow White to see if the seven dwarves could give her some advice on how to make a great team of workers, they were delighted. The fact that Cinderella reached out to Snow for some advice tickled them. Suddenly, all of the princesses – plus a few other story book characters – were in contact.  It was magic.
 

Night after night, Isabella and Sophia asked for more. We learned all kinds of things about Cinderella. Not only did she build her glass slipper factory, she became a serial entrepreneur, and opened another company, called Cinderella’s Cleaning School (where she put one of her best skillsets into action). She built the first glass building in the Kingdom (a library), and single-handedly transformed the architecture of the Kingdom. What a great option for a role model.
 

Now, that Cinderella story is one I could tell over and over. And, I did. Isabella and  Sophia – and their friends – only wanted more.
 

The classic princess stories still exist at our house. The only difference from any other house is Cinderella’s story continues. The Happy Ending really is pretty happy, and that’s because Cinderella is happy. She is living her dream.
 

Girls are girls, so there is a lot of room for princess stories. Once they had a couple of Cinderella stories under their belts, they wanted to know whatever happened to Beauty, and The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and some more storybook characters. And that’s how Princesses With a Twist expanded!

 

I hope you love the stories as much as we do, and rest easy that the little girls you love so much are able to enjoy the variety of Happy Endings that exist for these very special Princesses With A Twist.

 

Here’s to you, Good Parent, for searching for the best messages to imprint on your little one’s brains.
 

Love from Amelia