A little background first - DD will turn 4 in May. She is an only child. She goes to preschool and has other friends too. A mix of boys and girls -older and younger than her. We are a multilingual family and DD is fluent in two other languages (Dh's and mine) and English. At home she has a good mix of toys - but no dolls as such (she has never shown much interest in the one doll she has). Lots of books which she loves. She doesn't watch TV but has watched a few movies on DVD chosen by the both of us - Up, Lion King, Jungle Book, Aliens Vs Monsters and maybe a couple here and there. In short, she has no strong influences of the "princess" kind. We haven't read any princess stories at home either as far as I can remember.
Starting a week ago she has gotten obsessed with being a princess, liking only princess colors, wanting to wear only dresses, skirts and strappy sleeves. A couple of weeks ago her favorite shirt was one that had a gecko on it and now she asks me if it is a boys shirt. She has started to speak to me only in English because it is the princess language, refuses to sing any non-English songs and acts like she can't say the words if I insist. She has conversations about fashion and clothes with adults when I am not around (this is my fault - I buy lot of clothes for her). It is giving me sleepless nights because we strive hard to give DD a well rounded experience (which I don't think has to include princesses).
I don't know what to do. I have spoken to director of her preschool asking if they can lessen the amount of princess dress-up (seems like that is the only dress-up stuff they have in her class) but she insisted that it is good for the girls to dress up and bond over princessy stuff (why can't they bond over other stuff??). She thinks she is white (she is fair skinned) and this by far is the most shocking thing to me. I have a dark complexion and as an ethnic group Asian Indians come in all hues and colors. I don't know where she got this idea from.
I recognise that I am negatively biased with regards to the whole "princess" issue but this is the way we want her to grow up. What should I do?? Indulge in it a little or be strict about it. How do I distract her from this obsession. What can I do to make sure that the influence is minimized?? Any suggestions - I am very very concerned.
TIA