Recently, my daughter remarked to me, “Daddy, I’m a princess!” And after a brief pause she proudly added, “With pants!” I think she wanted to crystallize the very important point that, although it was true she was wearing pants at that moment, pants in no way detracted from her overall princessness. Her royal qualities were not — and could not be — lessened by mere pants. Furthermore, by wearing pants instead of a very pretty, sparkly dress, she was demonstrating the potency of her regal essence. A lesser princess would have been diminished by pants to the point that she was no longer a princess at all. Perhaps a countess or duchess (at most).

And then she dismissed me, forthwith, and proceeded to the kitchen for a snack.