What Do You Think About The J. Crew Ad?

[daycare]

I have no issue with it at all.. I don't see things as gender specific. Well unless its a tampon... The only thing that I can think of..

I have a nephew that likes to wear pink shoes with flowers on them at age 4. I am happy that he likes to make his own decisions and I feel that it will make him a leader; standing by his decisions. I hope that he never gives in to "what the other kids are doing role"

I see nothing wrong with it at all and by saying that there is only teaches our children to judge or sterotype people who things that they do....

so Yes I love that ad

[dEHmom]

I am too lazy to read the posts and check out the ad.

My 3 yo ds has silver nails right now :S . Work of his aunt.

Anyway, I struggle with my dh because he flips at anything well, not in his "norm".

just want to add, the same ds above, now has lipstick on because he went in my purse and put it on .

Anyways, I dont' discourage it, or see anything wrong with the boys playing with the girl things, dress up, etc and it's when they feel they have to hide it, that you start getting into serious problems. So I let them be free with it. It bothers me because if a girl was dressing up in the boys costumes or playign with the cars, it would never be questioned.

I do however, think that it is a problem if boys are being forced to play or dressup with girl toys.

[jojosmommy]

I thought the whole thing was stupid. Who cares if the kids paints his toe nails?

I have a preschooler who REGULARLY paints his toe/fingernails. His dad is a police man and mom works on tv. A few weeks back some of the other kids brought it up and one boy (who has limited female role models in his life) was saying "hey cool dude!". Some other kids were saying "I dont think boys are supposed to paint their nails." I monitored the convo and let them handle it. The boy with the painted nails was very confident in explaining that he just liked it so his mom let him do it! I thought that was pretty cool. At 4 he didnt just go with what the other kids were saying, he was self confident and could clearly state why he had them done. Then he told the kids if they came over they could ask his mom to do theirs too! I think being comfortable with who you are and being able to stick up for what you think is right (even at 4) is much more important than if you fit a gender role.

FYI: my son (2yrs old) plays with his baby dolls more than his trains, sleeps with his baby Annagrace everynight and even obsesses over if she needs a clean diaper, new clothes etc. I figure he watches me do it 10 hours a day obviously he is learning what he lives. And yes both my hubs and I let him take Annagrace anywhere he wants- even if other people think "thats not what boys should be doing".

[daycare]

I thought the whole thing was stupid. Who cares if the kids paints his toe nails?

I have a preschooler who REGULARLY paints his toe/fingernails. His dad is a police man and mom works on tv. A few weeks back some of the other kids brought it up and one boy (who has limited female role models in his life) was saying "hey cool dude!". Some other kids were saying "I dont think boys are supposed to paint their nails." I monitored the convo and let them handle it. The boy with the painted nails was very confident in explaining that he just liked it so his mom let him do it! I thought that was pretty cool. At 4 he didnt just go with what the other kids were saying, he was self confident and could clearly state why he had them done. Then he told the kids if they came over they could ask his mom to do theirs too! I think being comfortable with who you are and being able to stick up for what you think is right (even at 4) is much more important than if you fit a gender role.

FYI: my son (2yrs old) plays with his baby dolls more than his trains, sleeps with his baby Annagrace everynight and even obsesses over if she needs a clean diaper, new clothes etc. I figure he watches me do it 10 hours a day obviously he is learning what he lives. And yes both my hubs and I let him take Annagrace anywhere he wants- even if other people think "thats not what boys should be doing".

that is so cute that your son has a baby doll. He is going to be a great BF, husband and father....so sweet

[Blackcat31]

Okay here is a funny story about boys and dolls.....

One day we were shopping and my ds wanted this Ken Baywatch doll that went with the Barbie Baywatch doll that my dd had just gotten....my DH threw an all out fit because I bought it for him.

For weeks, my Dh wouldn't let it go that his son had a "Barbie" doll...didn't matter that it was Ken and not Barbie, he was mad.

A few months later, I noticed Ken laying in the bottom of my son's toybox. I asked him why it was there and if he didn't want Ken anymore. He said "Oh, I didn't want him anyways. I only wanted the jet-ski he had in the box." ::::


My ds also played with a doll that was a boy doll called "my Buddy" when he was about 2 yrs old ....we let him and didn't say anything to him, but eventually we had to get rid of it because it reminded me of Chucky from those horror movies..... It looked like this:

http://www.dollinfo.com/mybud90s.htm

[pinkcrayonz]

My 19 yr old manly son always wanted, and got his nails painted from the age 2 onward....yep even in later years he`d "let " cute girls paint his nails @ school...he played with barbies and dolls with his sister, dress up with his younger brother...he is now a dad and an AWESOME one, can change diapers, comfort his child when needed.....I think we need to chillax with all these Girl/ Boy only rules. I find that most kids don`t have these barriers we make maybe we should let them go.

[Hunni Bee]

Thanks guys for your opinions.


I always felt colors were colors, and dress up is pretend play. So I let the kiddos use/have/like whatever colors they want and pretend to be whatever they want. All of my boys spend as much time in Housekeeping - cleaning, cooking, taking care of babies - as they do in the Block Area, playing with trucks. I don't tell the parents how their kids play because I don't want grown-ups telling kids how to play in my classroom - let them regulate their play and toys at home.

The reason I mentioned that dcb who picks "girl" items exclusively is because it occurs with other, unnatural problems (the touching of other boys, showing his privates, etc) and I think they may be related and coming from a problem at home

However, I do NOT like the "Princess Boy" mom, because I feel she is either pressuring or over-encouraging her son to be a girl for publicity or her own desires to have a daughter instead of a son...the whole thing doesn't seem like something a young child would have come up with.

[QualiTcare]

my son would start throwing a fit wanting his nails painted when he was a toddler and saw me and/or my daughter painting ours. so, i would paint his nails. my husband didn't like it at ALL, but i pretty much told him "too bad."

the way i see it is you might as well let them get it out of their system. making it something "bad" that's not allowed is only going to make them more curious and want to do it even more when they're older.

the other thing i thought (and it was true) is that people would make comments to him - whether it be family or an old man at the grocery store.

not only did he stop wanting to wear nail polish, but when he was tested at preschool he knew every single color EXCEPT pink and purple. he couldn't name those colors. not very girly.

[Michael]

My son wants nothing to do with the color pink!

[daycare]

My son wants nothing to do with the color pink!

my son 15 does not......too bad for him people told him it was wrong or bad

however my 3.5 year old does not understand not to like it.

[Former Teacher]

hmmm

One of life's most puzzling questions: why is it okay for a girl to wear blue but when a boy wears pink all hedoublehockeysticks breaks loose?

There was a father at my former center. He was/is a tough manly man. He had 1 pale pink work (dress) shirt (with the company logo). One day we were talking about this very subject and he suddenly announces really loud..HEY REAL MEN WEAR PINK!! :: It was a great moment!

[QualiTcare]

My son wants nothing to do with the color pink!

hmm....i'm not even going to go there

[cillybean83]

when my cousin was 2 and his sister was 4, he would make me do his makeup because i was doing his sisters, he wanted to be an equal, and get what she was getting, he's 16 now and all boy...who cares if kids want to play in makeup and nail polish?!

[Mrs.Ky]

I dont see anything wrong with it my middle Son has been known to dance to his own beat . He use to wear girl dress up clothes, still plays baby dolls with his Sister, his favorite color is still pink, and he once wanted a pink butterfly painted on his face at a fall fest and I let him there is nothing wrong with it and he doesnt care what other people think. My hubby on the other hand has made comments like it will make him gay and I inform him nothing can make someone gay they are born that way and if he turns out gay I would still love him the same and welcome it.

[dEHmom]

I dont see anything wrong with it my middle Son has been known to dance to his own beat . He use to wear girl dress up clothes, still plays baby dolls with his Sister, his favorite color is still pink, and he once wanted a pink butterfly painted on his face at a fall fest and I let him there is nothing wrong with it and he doesnt care what other people think. My hubby on the other hand has made comments like it will make him gay and I inform him nothing can make someone gay they are born that way and if he turns out gay I would still love him the same and welcome it.

that exactly my dh's thinking. mine are too young yet to realize this stuff. one of my sons acts girly, runs girly, etc. dh thinks he is playing for wrong team, and when he makes fun of it, I give him heck. I said if it turns out so, one day i'll make him regret it. It scares me that dh would put that on a child, and if he decides at 15 yo that he is, he won't want to admit to us, because dh put such a stigma. Of course i hope it isn't that way, but i would 100% support him if that is the case.