Then again, she explains, there's an upside to royalty.
"You always get what you want and you don't have any responsibilities."
With that, she climbs onto a chair to get her makeup done.
Because today she is a princess -- and so are all her friends.
"We did this last year," said Diana Barnfield, a mother of three who recently threw a "princess party" for her daughter Delilah's fifth birthday at their home in Redondo Beach. "This year, I asked her if she wanted to have a Supergirl party, but she said, 'No, I want a princess party again.
' "
Which means the following: Eleven little girls, a few dozen dresses to choose from, dozens of low-heeled shoes to match, corresponding crowns made of colored pipe-cleaners, purses made of paper, feather boas, glitter makeup, plastic pearl necklaces -- and a roll-out red carpet to put it all together and let the girls strut their royal highnesses.
"It's like living out their fantasies," says Connie Samiano, owner of Giggles Glamour, a Gardena-based business that specializes in throwing princess parties for little girls. "We all sort of grew up with Cinderella and the Disney princesses.
It's a fantasy."
Samiano, a children's therapist who also supervises after-school programs at Grandview Elementary School in Manhattan Beach, has been throwing princess parties -- rock star parties for the older girls -- for about eight years.
It started simply enough.
Samiano helped organize a princess-theme party for a friend's daughter. It was a success, and her friend's friends wanted the same thing for their daughters. The happily-ever-after business grew from there.
"I grew up the oldest of five," said Samiano, who doesn't have children of her own but has worked with kids for years. "This is me. This is what I do.
"
Samiano brings everything a little princess might need. There's a rack full of dresses, shoes, jewelry, wands, makeup, and the red carpet for the final fashion show, which takes place toward the end of the near three-hour party. For pre-red carpet activities, she brings a table full of beads, stickers and glitter so the girls can decorate their "princess purses.
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