Disney’s Sleeping Beauty synopsis: At Princess Aurora’s christening, the good fairies Flora, Merryweather, and Fauna arrive to bless her. Flora gives her the gift of beauty. Fauna gives her the gift of song. At this point, Maleficent, the film's villain appears. Upset at not being invited to the christening ceremony, she curses the princess to die when she touches a spinning wheel's spindle before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday. Fortunately, Merryweather has not yet blessed Aurora, so she uses her blessing to weaken Maleficent's curse: Aurora will not die when she touches the spinning wheel, instead, she will fall asleep until she is awakened by her true love's kiss….(highly edited from wikipedia)
There are very few Disney film characters I think about from time to time. I admit when I was young, I’d imagine Mary Poppins or the birds and mice from Cinderella doing my chores and cleaning. I loved the Small World kids after going to the World’s Fair in the 1960s. (Great, now I’ll have that song going through my head for days)
Now that I’m an adult and a mother, the character Merryweather the blue fairy from Sleeping Beauty comes to mind very often. As the parent of a newly independent 18-year old, I realize my motherly advice is now weighed differently. As with anyone trying out new wings, her decisions will be mixed. Some good, some not so good. It’s those poor choices I’d love to undo or “weaken”. I wish for Merryweather’s timing, and her ability to lessen the consequences of any really poor decisions. But I know it’s our successes and our mistakes we make that shape character.
It’s hard for me not to shield my child from the harsh things in life. Fortunately, she knows I’m here for her even though I can’t fix things for her anymore.
Wait a minute, now that I think about it, I could use a few cartoon mice and birds--if they clean up after themselves.
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