Boys - Girls - KIDS!
I haven't blogged in a while. There's been nothing really to say. Life got really busy at the beginning of September... I mean... CRAZY BUSY...
Scouts started up again, school, taekwondo, gymnastics, fundraising... my goodness... we're in the thick of it...
While all of those things could bring a "blog worthy" post, there's something else I want to talk about.
I have a child. He's seven years old. He's a boy. Definitely. Loves guns, getting dirty, trucks, cars, airplanes, emojis, pink and purple... wait... what?!?
You mean to tell me boys can like things that may be meant for girls?? Holy shit. No way.
We went shopping for clothes for school. Do you think we could find ANYTHING in the boys section that had emojis on it? He loves emojis. I have no idea why, but his favorite one is the one with the hearts in the eyes....
We went over to the girls section. EMOJIS GALORE. I mean it! Pants, purses, sweaters, longs sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, leggings... everything. He found a sweater that he LOVES but he was worried he'd get picked on because it's a "Girls shirt".
I took him into the change room with that particular sweater and a sweater from the boys section. I pointed out the differences. The sleeves were connected with a different seam. The girls had a diagonal seam and the boys had a vertical seam just at the shoulder. And at the hem of the shirt the sweater had a slit on each side of the girls but not the boys.
He was so excited that the differences were minimal. He begged me to buy the shirt (and the boys shirt because he liked the blue stripes), so I did. I got worried when we loaded the bags into the cars, I started to wonder what his day will look like when he decides to wear that shirt.
Will his friends mock him? Will the girls get angry that he is wearing a sweater not meant for him? Will he cry? Will he want to take that shirt of and throw it out? Will I get a phone call that he got into a fight? Will I ever stop worrying?
We got home and he proudly showed his papa and brother his new emoji shirt. They said, ooh, yes, very nice. He pointed out the differences between the boys and girls shirts, my oldest stands up and points to his cub scout shirt and says, "Look, the seam at the hem of my shirt has little slits too! Boys shirts can have that too, it's not just girls!"
I was happy to see my oldest being encouraging towards his little brother! Beyond happy, I was crying happy tears inside!
At this point I should add, my youngest asked Santa for a Barbie last year for Christmas and got it. We went shopping at the Gap and he wanted a certain pair of leggings because they were Halloween theme, so I bought them for him. He's asked for pink bracelets and necklaces, he wants a silver sparkly purse, etc. He also wants star wars Lego, Nerf guns and to play with bugs.
My oldest loves the colour purple and one time wanted purple pants. Do you think we could find any purple pants in the boys section?? We had to go over to the girls section and try and find the one pair of pants that didn't have sequin or rhinestone on them! He doesn't like sparkle like some of us do.
I'm tired of having to shop in stores that have gender sections. My kids like clothing in both, but are worried they will be bullied because of their preferences. I can't protect them all the time, all I can do is encourage them to get/like what they want and go from there.
Wouldn't it be nice if the stores figured this out? Just put a KIDS section, not a GIRLS section or BOYS section? I know this opens up a whole can of worms in regards to adult sections, but man... kids should be given a chance to develop their own sense of who they are without being told by stores.
Scouts started up again, school, taekwondo, gymnastics, fundraising... my goodness... we're in the thick of it...
While all of those things could bring a "blog worthy" post, there's something else I want to talk about.
I have a child. He's seven years old. He's a boy. Definitely. Loves guns, getting dirty, trucks, cars, airplanes, emojis, pink and purple... wait... what?!?
You mean to tell me boys can like things that may be meant for girls?? Holy shit. No way.
We went shopping for clothes for school. Do you think we could find ANYTHING in the boys section that had emojis on it? He loves emojis. I have no idea why, but his favorite one is the one with the hearts in the eyes....
We went over to the girls section. EMOJIS GALORE. I mean it! Pants, purses, sweaters, longs sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, leggings... everything. He found a sweater that he LOVES but he was worried he'd get picked on because it's a "Girls shirt".
I took him into the change room with that particular sweater and a sweater from the boys section. I pointed out the differences. The sleeves were connected with a different seam. The girls had a diagonal seam and the boys had a vertical seam just at the shoulder. And at the hem of the shirt the sweater had a slit on each side of the girls but not the boys.
He was so excited that the differences were minimal. He begged me to buy the shirt (and the boys shirt because he liked the blue stripes), so I did. I got worried when we loaded the bags into the cars, I started to wonder what his day will look like when he decides to wear that shirt.
Will his friends mock him? Will the girls get angry that he is wearing a sweater not meant for him? Will he cry? Will he want to take that shirt of and throw it out? Will I get a phone call that he got into a fight? Will I ever stop worrying?
We got home and he proudly showed his papa and brother his new emoji shirt. They said, ooh, yes, very nice. He pointed out the differences between the boys and girls shirts, my oldest stands up and points to his cub scout shirt and says, "Look, the seam at the hem of my shirt has little slits too! Boys shirts can have that too, it's not just girls!"
I was happy to see my oldest being encouraging towards his little brother! Beyond happy, I was crying happy tears inside!
At this point I should add, my youngest asked Santa for a Barbie last year for Christmas and got it. We went shopping at the Gap and he wanted a certain pair of leggings because they were Halloween theme, so I bought them for him. He's asked for pink bracelets and necklaces, he wants a silver sparkly purse, etc. He also wants star wars Lego, Nerf guns and to play with bugs.
My oldest loves the colour purple and one time wanted purple pants. Do you think we could find any purple pants in the boys section?? We had to go over to the girls section and try and find the one pair of pants that didn't have sequin or rhinestone on them! He doesn't like sparkle like some of us do.
I'm tired of having to shop in stores that have gender sections. My kids like clothing in both, but are worried they will be bullied because of their preferences. I can't protect them all the time, all I can do is encourage them to get/like what they want and go from there.
Wouldn't it be nice if the stores figured this out? Just put a KIDS section, not a GIRLS section or BOYS section? I know this opens up a whole can of worms in regards to adult sections, but man... kids should be given a chance to develop their own sense of who they are without being told by stores.
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| IGNORE THE MESSY STAIRS!!! |
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