Girls like pink, princesses and dolls.
Boy like blue, fighting and cars.
That's always been the stereotype.
I'm raising my kid as a new generation mom, I know I am. Not because I'm declaring it. It's because I've seen it in my actions; in what I teach my kid; in my words.
In our new generation, we still have princes and princesses, we still have cars and power rangers and we have blue and pink. But in this generation, my little boy likes Anna and Elsa from Frozen. He snuggles stuffed animals and rocks baby dolls in his arms. I'm raising him to be a boy who isn't afraid to like what he likes. It doesn't mean he'll be gay, it doesn't mean he's a wuss. In fact, my little mommy's boy is a real meanie some times. He pushes, he hits and kicks. He watches Ninja Turtles and Thomas the Tank Engine and likes watching planes and wrestling. He is a boy biologically and physically, but he has other interests that cross the lines sometimes.
My little girl will be raised the same way. She'll have pig tails in her hair, wear whatever tutu she wants and be free to play with Matchbox cars if that's what she wants. If she wants to emulate her brother and dunk baskets and hit home runs than I'm totally fine with that. She will learn to fight off boys on her own and speak her mind. Martial Arts and dance classes could be in both their futures.
She will learn it's ok to say No. So will he. He will learn No means No, so will she. It means stop. They both will learn it's OK to be different, it's OK to stand against your peers and do the right thing. Ask the loner if they want to play, be that friend that means the world to another, even if it means playing with something the opposite gender normally likes.
I'm honestly OK if my kid gets picked on for going against their gender stereotypes. I don't want it going too far, but if a group of boys calls my boy a sissy because he plays dolls with a girl, or another boy, I'll tell him "Good for you." If my little girl gets called a boy because she wants to run and climb a tree over gossiping with girls, I'll say "Have fun!". My kids will break the stereotypes and I'll back them 100%. Not because I want to break gender lines, because they will be doing things that they honestly like.
Now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Yeah, this is what every parent says they'll do, and it never happens." And you're right, I don't know how my kid will be when I'm not around. I like to think I'll teach them the right things, though. Already we're showing my boy all sorts of girl and boy things and he gets to choose and sees what becomes of his choice. Our girl will be raised the same way. When you think of adults, as long as it's your choice, good or bad, you're typically ok with the outcome, only because it's what you chose. Even if the choice was bad, it was your choice so you accept the consequence a little better. Same with kids. They don't always like what happened, but it was their choice. When I explain to my kid that it was his choice and review his process, he realizes the chain of events and is calms down.
In today's world, there's so much talk about gay, straight, bi, trans, pan, etc. which gets so confusing as you're growing up. It's confusing even for adults, and it's all sexually related. Kids don't understand all this and they really shouldn't since we can mostly agree that kids under 18 shouldn't be having sex. I honestly don't believe kids know what their orientation is until they experience puberty at least. So why we let toddler toys dictate how our children will turn out in 10 years is quite silly to me. Let them use their imagination and play all they want. Let's let our kids choose their path in their own time.
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