Let's take a break from talking about products. Let's talk about females in children's movies. Now, it might not look like much, but the characters your child watches greatly impact their future and personality. They teach them things, both good and bad. So what are the best role models, especially for young girls? When thinking of "girl movies" for children, we often go straight to the Disney classics like "Beauty and the Beast" or "The Little Mermaid". Now, personally, I think Belle is an awesome character in a pretty good movie for kids (or really anyone!), but I think some of the best role models in the Disney genre are more underrated. Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a strong woman character that isn't promoted enough with kids (and Frollo is also an amazing villain- you just might get a little crush!). The movie is a little darker, more mature, but I liked it for that. Opening your kids to that may surprise you. Of c...
Fancy Nancy is a growing trend with little girls, mostly because of the new toy line. There are more than a couple of reasons not to buy it, though. It may seem like I'm unreasonably attacking an innocent toy line, but soon you'll see my reasons. I loved Fancy Nancy when I was in first grade, sometimes putting glittery clips in my messy hair, and on occasion wearing a fancy outfit to school. The books and small number of products used to be high quality and low-key- just fancy enough. Now they're cheap, plastic garbage. Annoying, too. I'm talking specifically about the talking Fancy Nancy doll. I mean, how long can you hear "Shall we be FANCY?" on repeat until it gets annoying? The light-up torso on the doll and the light-up butterfly bracelet, plus all the phrases and other features are too much for the targeted audience. It's way too overstimulating. We're turning a fun, cute kids' book series into expensive, annoying garbage! How long ha...