Gender Wars

In my one week at Wal-Mart, I've seen some various things that made me question various parenting skills. For example, why do parents let their children run amok in the store? Don't they realize that it can make you seem like you can't control your child, having them run around like crazy, making a huge mess? It's not fun for US either. We have to waste time cleaning everything up.

Another thing is how gendered parents continue to be in this day and age. Every day, I hear parents telling their child that they "don't want this, this is for boys!" or that they need to move along because "these are girls toys". Is there something wrong here? Why are some toys more appropriate for boys and some are appropriate for girls? And then there's the double standard! If a girl wants to play with Legos, that's ok. Of course, they're encouraged to buy the Legos that come in the pink box as opposed to the blue. But it seems like all hell breaks loose if a boy wants to play with a doll.

I say, let them. Why should we discourage part of our children's development and not discover their full potential? A girl playing with a Lego set might be the first step for her to become an architect or a civil engineer. A boy who wants to play with a ballerina Barbie may become a world renowned dancer. Playing with the Easy-Bake Ovens might be the first step for a young boy to be a famous chef. But if we don't let a child play with a certain toy because of the colour of the box, then we'll never know.

Today, I saw a parent willing to but her daughter in danger because there were no bike helmets "for a little girl" (her exact words) left in that size. She was seriously considering putting her child in a helmet that was too big because it was purple with flowers rather than buying the right size helmet that was blue and had aliens on it. I don't understand that one.

When I have a child, boy or girl, I can't see myself limiting their options of play things. If my little girl tries dinkies and transformers and doesn't like them, so be it. I won't force her. If my little boy wants to play with the kitchen set, so be it. If he wants to play cook, whatever! It makes him happy. I'll let my little girl play in the dirt too. I know I played in the dirt.

I'm not saying that girl toys and boy toys are bad. I'm saying give your child all the options available. Let your girl play in the dirt and then play with some dolls. Let the boy play dress up and then break out the Transformers. If you don't offer your child all there is to offer, regardless of gender, how can they truly live up to their full potential?