Mattel goes so far as to indulge these fantasies with Wedding Day Barbie and an accompanying pink, plastic chapel and skimpy, white honeymoon outfit.

What bothers me most about these fantasies is not that they happen when we are little girls; it is the fairytale-way they translate into adulthood. That is to say, little girls believe well into their 20s and 30s and 40s that they will live happily ever after in matrimonial bliss.

My optimistic side is more than happy to welcome the notion that happily ever after is an option; to believe that the modern-day Cinderella has a Prince Charming; to ignore the staggering divorce rates. However, my pessimistic (sometimes more realistic) side can’t help but wonder if scrolling words on the final page of most fairytales are disillusioning people – women, in particular.

Simply put, I believe women have caught The Happily Ever After Syndrome.

With wedding season fast approaching and more and more of my friends announcing engagements and wedding dates, I am hoping that those near and dear to me haven’t caught The Syndrome. What I mean is that women seem to have this notion that marriage is the equivalent of living happily ever after.

While it might be a step on the road, marriage is not the same as a fairytale ending. What we don’t learn from the Brothers Grimm or any of the other old story tellers is what happens with Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, et al. and their respective Princes, Dukes and other noble men when the back flap of the book is closed and real life begins; what happens after the honeymoon is over? That does seem to be the point when most of the fairytales end and we are left to speculate on what comes next.

I have heard stories of women believing that once the man is nabbed, once the ring encircles the appropriate finger, once the wedding photos have been carefully scrapbooked, the hard work is done, and the prize is won. However, from watching married couples every day of my life, I have observed that this is when the work begins. Couples must then figure out who does the laundry, who cooks and cleans, when they are going to have children and how they are going to pay for them, where they should live…The questions go on and on.

In a lot of ways, I can’t help but think that fairytale concoctions of true love and romance are actually bad for the brain; they are like cocaine: killing (or disillusioning) precious brain cells with mainstream visions of love, making the everyday version seem less than adequate. So we need more romantic comedies, fairytales and other sappy stories to keep our high up, to make the doldrum version of real life love more tolerable.

A good friend of mine once told me that one’s version of love is shaped by Hollywood movies, books and stories. At first I disagreed with him (citing my Grandparents as my main source of inspiration), but I think there is a lot of truth to his statement. And these days, it has women running around, overjoyed to be wearing a diamond ring, thinking that the problems of being single or dating are over now that they’ve got their man. Maybe some of the problems are over; or maybe they’ve warped into the problems of married people, I don’t know.

Whatever the case may be, I think doctors should be steadfastly developing a vaccine to prevent The Happily Ever After Syndrome from turning women of the world into zombies – or worse, Cinderella wannabes. I know that I’ll be first in line to be vaccinated.

• "A Single Serving" appears the 1st and 15th of every month, exclusively in Lumino Magazine. E-mail Melissa at m.koss@yahoo.com.

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