Snowy and her father

Before a recent airplane trip I let my 3-year-old daughter choose a video to bring along. She selected Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Maybe because she has older brothers, or because we haven't exactly encouraged it, but this is only her second Disney Princess movie. We watched it together on the plane, and I tried not to gag while Snow White played coy with the prince at the well, running away (because she was dressed in rags, I think? To be honest I was trying to read a novel at the same time) and then peeking out the window at him.

Meanwhile my daughter was coming up with her own interpretations. First of all, no matter how many times the rest of us try to convince her, she continues to refer to this character as "Snowy."

"Look, Mommy," she said to me. "Snowy is running away from her father!"

"Oh, that's not her father," I told her. "That's a prince."

"No, it's not," she insisted. "It's her father. Her father is chasing her and laughing."

"No really, that guy's a prince. See, they're the same age. He likes her and...Oh, never mind."

"That's funny when Snowy runs away from her father." She is still laughing about it.

"You're right, honey, that is funny."

Also, the bad witch was a "pirate." Don't ask, I have no idea.

I have given up trying to argue with my daughter. She always wins every argument purely on persistence, regardless of the facts.

We have had several long discussions about whether words rhyme or not. Since she hasn't quite grasped the concept, she will say, for instance, that "car" and "wheel" rhyme. I used to get sucked into the discussion, giving several examples of rhyming pairs, but my explanations fell on deaf ears. Now if she says "dog" and "tail" rhyme, I have learned not to insist otherwise.

Because I can already tell, I need to be saving my energy for the teenage years.