Special Education Evaluation

Tomorrow is a big day for Little Miss Minion. Since she turns three in May, she ages out of the program that has been providing her speech and physical therapies. From here, she either graduates from therapies or she transitions into the local school district to receive services through them. Tomorrow is her evaluation. They will test her in cognition, expressive and receptive language, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills. There are a bunch of percents involved and she has to score below some deviation blah blah blah.

I don’t know the math involved but they take all her scores and compare them to where she “should” be. So basically this is where we find out if she’s caught up to her actual age vs her chronological. Since she was three months early, we adjust her age for three years. Theoretically, she should be caught up by her third birthday. Tomorrow, she’ll do the tests that will tell us how caught up she is.

If she doesn’t qualify, we could always pursue private therapies if we wanted her to continue. Or we could be done until she needs future evaluation. It’s a balancing act. Do we cut the cord and see how she compares to her peers in kindergarten? Or do we pay out of our pocket for therapy that the school district has determined she doesn’t need?

Or does she qualify to continue services through kindergarten? We’ll find out soon!

The Disney Ruling Class

So, when you have a toddler who likes colorful things and singing, you find yourself listening to and watching a lot of Disney movies. When you and your husband are also history dorks who have a lot of general knowledge of the royal hierarchies of various countries, you might find yourself wondering which of the Disney Princesses has the highest rank. Well, I’ve made my own ranking of who has the most royal clout out of the 13 main Princesses. You are welcome.

Elsa from Frozen would get top spot. She’s already a Queen Regnant, so she gets the honor of being the current ruler of the Ruling Class. If she were to die or abdicate, the following would be the line of succession:

2. Anna from Frozen, only because she’s next in line to Elsa by right of being her sister. If not for that, she drops down to #10.

3. Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. She is a Princess Royal (next in line for the throne) in her own right, and she marries Prince Philip, a Prince Royal. The two of them together would be a King Regnant and Queen Regnant, as opposed to either of them being Consorts.

3. Rapunzel from Tangled. She is next in line to become a Queen Regnant, and her husband will be a Prince Consort, since he is a commoner.

4. Merida from Brave. She is also a Princess Royal, destined to be a Queen Regnant…unless she gets screwed over by Salic Law and her brothers inherit.

5. Ariel from The Little Mermaid. While her personal rank is lower on the scale due her older sisters, she marries a Prince Regnant, who will eventually become a King Regnant, making her a Queen Consort.

6. Snow White (eponymous). She is a princess of unspecified rank who marries a prince of unspecified rank. Definitely royal, but no one knows to what degree.

7. Jasmine from Aladdin. This one is kind of weird. Jasmine holds the position of the only child of a sultan. This means that when she marries, she will become a sultana. However, given that most societies are patriarchal, her husband will take the title of Sultan and ultimately hold all the power.

8. Cinderella (eponymous). She is the daughter of some minor noble who marries a Prince Royal and will eventually become a Queen Consort.

9. Belle from Beauty and the Beast. A commoner, she marries a Prince Regnant of some minor principality in France. She will become a Princess Consort.

(This is where Anna would go, were it not for her direct blood relation to the only current Queen)

10. Pocahontas (eponymous). While not technically royal, she holds the rank of Chief’s daughter and is considered honorary royalty. She marries a commoner, so her rank remains the same.

11. Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. She is a commoner who marries a Prince who likely abdicates his throne in order to be with her, making them both commoners.

12. Mulan (eponymous). She is a commoner who marries a commoner. She only gets to rule if everyone else dies first.

I haven’t seen any sequels, so this whole thing assumes no children/heirs. So there you have it. Disney’s Ruling Class Hierarchy.