There's a stereotypical belief that girls are one way and boys are another. Everyone always asks my daughter if her favorite color is pink.
It's not. It's blue.
We told our pediatrician that my daughter was sleeping in a big girl bed, and I asked my daughter to say who was on her sheets. Not being a great fan of visiting the doctor, my daughter remained silent.
"Is it princesses?" the doctor asked.
No. It's Lightning McQueen. (The Buzz Lightyear sheets were sold out.)
I once bought my daughter a Thomas & Friends activity book at the airport. We had time to kill, and she was getting antsy, so I told her to pick a toy. I was a little offended that the small book was $10 but even more offended when the man behind the counter struck up a conversation with me about Thomas.
"Does she like Thomas & Friends?" he asked. The snark in me wanted to reply with, "Yes, that's why I'm buying her a Thomas-themed toy," but I refrained. Instead, I just nodded.
"Who is her favorite character? Emily?"
Emily? Who the heck even IS Emily? No! My daughter's favorite train is freakin' THOMAS. Why would she like Emily? Because Emily is a girl and girls only like other girl characters?
Sure, at times my kid can be girly. She loves tutus (or says she does - I've bought them upon request and they have yet to be worn) and putting all of her toys to sleep. "Good night, little ones," she'll say. She even goes back into her room to change her toys' poopy diapers. (They poop a lot.)
But she also likes cars (both toy cars and the Disney/Pixar movies), riding her motorcycle ride-on outside, and fighting Screenslaver like Elastigirl. (Maybe we should stop watching The Incredibles 2 so much.) She knows the Disney Princesses, but her favorite character from Aladdin is the cave. We have to rewatch the part with the "cave face" over and over again. I think I may have promised her that she could dress up as the cave for Halloween. I don't know how I'll pull that off.
What toys did you play with as a kid? When I was a kid, I loved baby dolls. I even thought that if I carried them out in public with me people would think I had an actual baby. Pretty sure people just thought I was a weird little kid. I loved playing school, mainly because I could get mad at imaginary "bad" kids. And Barbie was my favorite, but not because of the fashion play. I used Barbie to create soap operas, murder mysteries, fake TV show intros, and figure skating competitions. For me, Barbie was a vehicle for storytelling.
I just finished reading the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, so I'm on a real kick to not let the same things that happened to me as a girl happen to my little girl. Mattel, makers of my favorite childhood toy, is also pushing to #closethedreamgap with its Dream Gap Project Fund that raises money through the sale of Barbie dolls to provide resources and support to young girls so they can continue to believe, even at the age of 5, that they can do or be anything. You can read more about it here.
Parents of daughters, do you find people always trying to fit your kid into a gender box? How do you handle it?
And parents of boys, do you encourage non-gendered play among your sons? (My mother-in-law tells a story about buying a dollhouse for her five boys to promote nurturing play, but the boys kept pretending the house was on fire and playing out action and rescue scenes.)
I'm just letting my daughter do her thing. She's going to like what she likes, whether it's pink, blue, or sea foam green. (A little bit of history for you - way back in the day light pink was actually a baby boy's color because it was a lighter shade of the "manly" red. Light blue was a baby girl's color.) And I want her to follow her natural interests so she can decide for herself what she really likes and not have society dictate to her what she can like/dislike or do/not do.
It's not. It's blue.
We told our pediatrician that my daughter was sleeping in a big girl bed, and I asked my daughter to say who was on her sheets. Not being a great fan of visiting the doctor, my daughter remained silent.
"Is it princesses?" the doctor asked.
No. It's Lightning McQueen. (The Buzz Lightyear sheets were sold out.)
I once bought my daughter a Thomas & Friends activity book at the airport. We had time to kill, and she was getting antsy, so I told her to pick a toy. I was a little offended that the small book was $10 but even more offended when the man behind the counter struck up a conversation with me about Thomas.
"Does she like Thomas & Friends?" he asked. The snark in me wanted to reply with, "Yes, that's why I'm buying her a Thomas-themed toy," but I refrained. Instead, I just nodded.
"Who is her favorite character? Emily?"
Emily? Who the heck even IS Emily? No! My daughter's favorite train is freakin' THOMAS. Why would she like Emily? Because Emily is a girl and girls only like other girl characters?
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| The Lightning McQueen sheets (Don't mind the duct tape on her bed. I fixed that.) |
But she also likes cars (both toy cars and the Disney/Pixar movies), riding her motorcycle ride-on outside, and fighting Screenslaver like Elastigirl. (Maybe we should stop watching The Incredibles 2 so much.) She knows the Disney Princesses, but her favorite character from Aladdin is the cave. We have to rewatch the part with the "cave face" over and over again. I think I may have promised her that she could dress up as the cave for Halloween. I don't know how I'll pull that off.
What toys did you play with as a kid? When I was a kid, I loved baby dolls. I even thought that if I carried them out in public with me people would think I had an actual baby. Pretty sure people just thought I was a weird little kid. I loved playing school, mainly because I could get mad at imaginary "bad" kids. And Barbie was my favorite, but not because of the fashion play. I used Barbie to create soap operas, murder mysteries, fake TV show intros, and figure skating competitions. For me, Barbie was a vehicle for storytelling.
 |
| Me as a kid with my beloved Barbies |
I just finished reading the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, so I'm on a real kick to not let the same things that happened to me as a girl happen to my little girl. Mattel, makers of my favorite childhood toy, is also pushing to #closethedreamgap with its Dream Gap Project Fund that raises money through the sale of Barbie dolls to provide resources and support to young girls so they can continue to believe, even at the age of 5, that they can do or be anything. You can read more about it here.
Parents of daughters, do you find people always trying to fit your kid into a gender box? How do you handle it?
And parents of boys, do you encourage non-gendered play among your sons? (My mother-in-law tells a story about buying a dollhouse for her five boys to promote nurturing play, but the boys kept pretending the house was on fire and playing out action and rescue scenes.)
I'm just letting my daughter do her thing. She's going to like what she likes, whether it's pink, blue, or sea foam green. (A little bit of history for you - way back in the day light pink was actually a baby boy's color because it was a lighter shade of the "manly" red. Light blue was a baby girl's color.) And I want her to follow her natural interests so she can decide for herself what she really likes and not have society dictate to her what she can like/dislike or do/not do.
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