So You Think You're Cinderella?

When should a girl stop believing in fairytales?

"A Cinderella Story" starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray

When I was younger, my mom read me stories about Princes, Princesses, White horses and castles before I went to sleep. I had a book as thick as an Encyclopedia that had fairytales in it (unfortunately it was "borrowed" by our neighbor - and by "borrow", I mean stolen WITH our consent. Lol). When she read me those stories, I knew that the world was bigger.

I remember me, my big sister and cousin talking, picking out our favorite among the "Queen Bee" Disney Princesses - Snow White, Cinderella, Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).

I picked Snow White. Simply because they both picked Cinderella. And I didn't wanna jump on the bandwagon.

But everyone knows every girl wants a Cinderella story.

Unfortunately (or should it be "fortunately"?), not every girl grows out of the fairy tale phase.

Some girls grow up and date and find guys who kiss them and sweep them off their feet.

But not every guy rides a White horse and takes them to a castle. And the girl gets disappointed. See: Taylor Swift.

But is it really a guy's fault if he displays qualities that are so un-Prince Charming? Is it really their fault if they don't fit into a girl's idea of a man?

Some of the common things girls complain about guys are the following:

Ever heard of taking a bath?

1. When a guy smells like he just crawled out of a dumpster.

2. When a guy memorizes his teammates' cellphone numbers but can't remember his girlfriend's last name.

3. When a guy tells his girl he's at home when really, he's at a strip club.

4. When a guy gets mad if HIS girl goes to a men's strip club.

5. When a guy blows all his money in playing 
DOTA
 Poker.

(Not every girl would agree with me on this list but I'm sure they would agree with number 1 :-p )

To a girl who believes in fairytales, she would imagine her guy to be someone who would take her to ride a little boat by the river where he would quote her sweet Shakespeare or Hemingway lines.

To a girl who believes in fairytales, she would imagine her guy to throw pebbles at her window to wake her up in the middle of the night and then sing her favorite love song.

To a girl who believes in fairytales, she would want her love life to be perfect.

But that's the thing with fairytales - they're too perfect for reality.

Guys are humans, just like us. They screw up. They fall in love and fall out of love. And did I mention that some of them smell really bad? (Lol. Peace! :D )

Hell, even real Princes screw up.

Look at Prince Charles - he married a divinely beautiful woman who had a pure heart (Princess Diana) and he still managed to look away and take her for granted.

Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles

But that's because all those years he was married to Princess Diana, he was still in love with his ex, Camilla Parker Bowles. See? There's no perfect Prince Charming out there.

So if your boyfriend has bad body odor, don't dump him instantly. Buy him a deodorant and see what happens.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with hoping for a fairytale relationship but girls should not rely on it.

The distorted, about-to-sneeze facial expression

Because the more you expect for something grand to happen, the more hurt you're going to be when you find your expectations are not being met.

You know that feeling when you're on the verge of sneezing but then it goes away just in time to give you that distorted about-to-sneeze expression on your face? Yeah, that's called disappointment.

Guys don't like it when girls expect them to be like Romeo or --- for lack of a better example --- Edward-Sparkly-Cullen. Just like girls hate it when guys expect them to have perfect Megan Fox-ish bodies.

Some women, however, wake up one morning and find their dreams coming true. But this doesn't usually

Sometimes, in the middle of our ordinary existence, life gives us a fairytale. :)

happen through the efforts of one guy. Actually, real-life fairytales happen through the efforts of two people who are in love.

Prince William and Kate Middleton should not have ended up together if  Kate didn't show Prince William what he was missing by letting her go. And there would be no Royal Wedding of the Century if Prince William didn't get his act together in time to show Kate that he was worth taking back.

But real-life fairytales aren't about getting married in the Westminster Abbey and kissing on the balcony of the Buckingham Palace (although we wish we could!), it's about going to the extremes, beating all odds and going against the tide to be with that one person who makes you feel like you're the lead character from a romantic movie, even though you're only standing in your living room with your fluffy slippers on.

I, personally, dream of having a love story fit for Disney books. But after dreaming, I wake up, face life and accept that I'm no Disney Princess. I'm not Cinderella.

And I understand that when I fall in love, I should not compare our relationship to a fairytale book. I get that this is reality - not everything is perfect.

But I know that in the middle of my ordinary existence, there will be times where life gives me short and swift moments similar to a fairytale. But that's all there is - short moments. And when these moments happen, I should cherish every second.

And I have faith that someday, I'd be lucky enough to meet a normal, 100% ordinary human guy who would make me feel extraordinary, fairytale-like feelings.

And just hope that he doesn't sparkle ;-)