There's a new princess in town

In Natalie's world, I am ...

Like Cinderella, I am blond, cheerful and kind and often seen scrubbing the floor.

Natalie sees herself as ...

Like Snow White, Natalie has short brown hair, a rosebud mouth, surrounds herself with little people and talks to woodland creatures.

Recently Daddy introduced Natalie to his new girlfriend. Natalie liked her very much. She described her as looking like ...

See, Daddy's friend has dark hair like Princess Jasmine and an exotic name. She is cinnamon to Cinderella's vanilla.

My heart sank.

I felt uneasy.

Scared.

Threatened.

And then I reminded myself of what I'd told Daddy when I started seeing Tony.

"No one will ever replace you. You're her father. That will never change. The more people who love Natalie, the better."

Tony and I stood in the kitchen that morning, after I'd picked Natalie up and she told me about tea with Daddy and his friend.

"She said she looks like Princess Jasmine," I told him.

"Oh honey," he said. He hugged me, then put his hands on my shoulders.

"You're her mother. Her mother. Nothing's going to change that."

He's right. And after all it could be worse. She could be ...

Mulan!

That, my friends, would be very hard to take.