Prince Charming. Does that name elicit a romantic sigh or a frustrated grunt from your throat? He’s so charming, so handsome, so perfect, so… not real. Am I right? While Prince Charming is a supremely romantic idea, he never turns out so well in real life. Remember that scene in A Cinderella Story where Hilary Duff tells Chad Michael Murray,

Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought: useless and disappointing.

I think she basically summed it up perfectly. Do you ever feel like the wait is useless? Are you disappointed that your prince hasn’t come yet? Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Chad Michael Murray because, unlike in the movie, he’s probably not going to come running after you. Of course, you already know that. After all, Prince Charming is a myth, right? He is nothing but a bedtime story designed to give little girls sweet dreams. In a way, he’s like Santa Claus – all fun and magical… until the day you find out he’s not real. I’ve heard that moment in a child’s life can be pretty devastating. (I can’t talk from personal experience here because my mom had been so disappointed to find out that her parents had lied to her that she never passed this tradition down to her kids.) Truth can be tragic at times.

I truly do believe that Prince Charming is a lot like Santa Claus – a blown-out-of-proportion-bedtime-story fantasy that was originally based on fact. St. Nicholas was real; Santa Claus is not. So what about Prince Charming? Who’s he supposed to be? Could such a magnificent man have ever existed? Continue reading →