The Power of Disney

My kids have been inspired on more than one occasion by a Disney movie.  For a long time, the inspiration manifested itself in plays where the girls dressed up in princess dresses and pranced around the house.  There was the time I walked in on Emma and Charlotte (aka Prince Eric) kissing, which I have to admit was a bit startling.  Most recently, Charlotte and Cristina have been influenced by Mulan.  Cristina walks around singing, "Let's get down to business...to defeat the Huns," while simultaneously striking violent poses.  A few weeks ago, Charlotte was inspired to climb the light pole in our yard - trying to be like Mulan climbing for the arrow on top of the pole in the movie.  Cristina stood next to her singing, "I'll make a man out of YOU!"  We have the pictures to prove it.

After spending quite a while trying to climb the pole, Charlotte eventually came in for dinner.  Over dinner, she asked me, "Mom, is the reason I'm so good at climbing poles because I'm part-Chinese and part-American?"  I had to explain that she wasn't any part Chinese.  After dinner, she went back outside and got upset because she just wasn't able to reach the top.  I went out to give her a pep talk and explain that Mulan was climbing a pole that was the same size all the way up and our light pole got smaller towards the top.  Finally, she says to me, "I'm not sure if I can do it, but if I can, can we put it on Facebook?"

Meanwhile, Cristina gave it a go herself, although she didn't get quite the height that Charlotte attained.  She told me, "When I get to the top, I'm changing my name to Mulan."  She didn't quite make it to the top, but that hasn't stopped her from telling me on more than one occasion lately that her name is Mulan.

This past weekend, we were out at Stone Mountain. As we neared the top, Charlotte spotted a large boulder over to the right.  She looks at me and says, "You remember Lion King, right?  That's Pride Rock."  She then proceeds to climb a top the rock and start roaring like a lion.  I really can't make this stuff up!  I was laughing so hard.  She was so enthusiastic and LOUD!  She came down and told me she was Queen Simba and I suggested maybe Queen Nala.