Bewitched teen battles chain of commands

The neighborhood kids gather at your house to play. But just as the fun seems to get going, all the play pals head home. Apparently your daughter turned into Little Miss Bossy—trying to control everything from what games to play to what snacks to eat. Now your daughter is all alone with no one to boss but herself.

The newly released film Ella Enchanted illustrates some nice and not-so-nice ways to ask someone to do something. After watching the movie, do our family activity, “Who's the Boss?” to bring the lesson to life.

In a modern and magical medieval world, baby Ella of Frell (Anne Hathaway) receives the gift of perfect obedience from her fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox). As Ella grows up, the gift becomes a curse, since she must obey anyone's commands.

When Ella's bossy stepsisters discover her inability to say no, they take full advantage of her willing spirit. The evil stepsisters order Ella to do things that get her into trouble and make her life miserable.

Ella sets out to find her fairy godmother and convince her to take back the gift. All the while she must avoid commands that could prove disastrous i in her quest to live happily ever after.

Family Activity: Who's the Boss?

After watching Ella Enchanted , take time to talk about bossy behavior. Then play “Who's the Boss?” to break the chain of commands.

Share!

Together, think about the times in the movie when Ella was forced to do things she didn't want to do, such as breaking up with her best friend. Have family members share stories of when someone bossed them to do things they didn't want to do. How did that make you feel? How could that person have asked differently so that you didn't feel as bad?

Take a moment to talk about the different ways you can ask people to do things. For example, if your youngest son is bothering your daughter as she's studying, she could scream “Shut up!” or ask him, “Please be quiet.” Which ways of asking someone to do something are more effective? Why?

Play!

Materials needed:
Small jar with lid
Glitter
Several bottles of fingernail polish, in different colors
One pair of dice

Fill the jar with water. Sprinkle glitter in the jar. Have each family member choose a different color of fingernail polish and paint that color on one side of one of the dice. The other die should stay unpainted. Place dice in the jar.

Have the first player, “the Boss,” shake the jar. The colored side that lands facing up determines which player is “the Bossee”—the person whom the first player gets to boss. The plain die represents the amount of time—from one to six minutes.

Take turns ordering each other around—from tying your shoes to fixing you a bowl of cereal. Be as bossy as possible for the allotted time.

Take turns shaking the jar again. But this time, the Boss takes a gentler approach in making requests. After you're done playing, take a moment to talk about how it felt to give and receive orders from someone who's mean and from someone who's kind.

With more effective communication, your family will be in for more fairy tale endings.