Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Breaking Gender Stereotypes One Set of Footy Jammies at a Time


Watch out world.  There's a Mom here who celebrates differences, encourages freedom to choose, and relishes in responsible decision-making.  

These kids are the face of innocence.  When is it that gender stereotypes will make them ashamed and embarrassed for wearing their siblings' clothes?  Guess what world?  When boys play with dolls, they learn to nurture.  When girls play with trucks, they learn mechanics.  And when kids are just left alone to have fun -- they do what feels good.  Remember that?   

I'm not shaking up the world because I let my kids wear different colors, but I hope I am because I encourage them to go with their instinct.  I hope compassion doesn't get lost when they head out the door.  I hope they seek diversity in friendship and experience.  

So shake it up.  Go on.  Tell me what you do.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

DayAM! Those kids are D to the A to the R to the LING! Mmmmhmmm.

And how do we shake it up?
Our girl runs naked all weekend. All nakie, all the time, when we're hangin' at the homestead.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I'm with Aaryn--we had lots of nakie when the kids were little--although I must admit parental involvement was quite limited.

I say expose them to everything a see what takes. My big, strong boys love to bake and my cheerleader can whup her brother's friends.

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

Beautiful ♥ post - I so agree but I bet many twin mums wouldn't just because the questions twins already get asked ... I got asked if I had two boys recently and they were in 'boy' clothes - They look like boys.
We have a doll and a pram too.
I can't purposefully go and buy pink clothes LOL but if they wanted a pink shirt or one with a butterfly I might buy it.

thanks for visiting me
My Little Drummer boys

Amber M. said...

Love it. I feel like in teaching our kids we tell them "no" all the time. Good for you for letting them choose their own without making it a "no", too.

Anna is my WWF wrestler...she can pin her big brother who just shrieks and yells for her to get off.

Mary said...

Your kids are beautiful :)
Love thier towels!
My little guy loves going to my sister Lisa's house because they have totally different toys at that house. GIRL toys! Thomas has no clue they are girl toys but he has a ball cooking and pushing the baby stroller and feeding the baby and loving the baby! It's all good :) Innocence is a great thing. It's really to bad that it doesn't last forever!

Lori said...

don't they look cute... what did your hubby think about the color swapping??

Shaking things up??? ummm Blake's a toddler everything is shook up all the time (hahaha)

anyway... I think it is great to encourage children to play "non-typical gender roll things"

Laski said...

I bought some adorable PJs that J wore all the time. I had no idea they were the girl's PJs. He looked so cute . . . who cared.

You keep shakin' things up!!! Your kiddies are adorable!!!

Misty said...

Your children are gorgeous, period. And what is beautiful about this post, is that you're allowing your children genuine expression.....

xo Misty

tommie said...

Mine are only 16 months apart, so there are no definite boy toys or girl toys in our home.


as for shaking things up....This was a more oh-my-gosh what is SHE doing : But my little girl used to be known to drop drawers in the back yard if she had to go potty! LOL She doesn't do it anymore.

OHmommy said...

CUTE kids!!!!! WTG momma!

Lola wears her purple tutu while fighting Jay with her light saber. :)

Kat said...

The look on his face is priceless. So cute! Your kids are darling!!!!

Well, I don't really know how we shake things up around here. My boys asked me if they could play with dolls once and I said sure. I handed them one of my old Barbies and asked them what they would do with it.
Joey looked at me and said, "I don't know. Swing her around by her hair?"
That lesson didn't work out so well I guess. I'm working on it. ;)

Amy said...

Your two kiddos are just so cute regardless of what they wear. I wish the innoncence of childhood was infinite!

Happy Days said...

I love these pictures!!! It is pure innocence and that is wonderful!

Homegrown Tribe said...

What an adorable picture!

My boys have dolls and a doll stroller. But that's about as girly as it gets around here. I wouldn't stop the boys from playing with something girly... they just aren't that interested.

Brittany

CC said...

My son LOVES dressing up in dresses! He wears princess dresses at his friend's homes (we don't have any) and his sister's clothes that are still too big for her. I've limited it to one particular dress and a couple pairs of tights, but he LOVES them so, so much. The other day I found him in bed out of his pj's and in his pink dress. He slept in the dress all night! LOL! He's either very secure in his masculinity or questioning it from an early age. Either way, who am I to judge!?

Unknown said...

My hubby lets the twins choose their own clothes on the weekends while I'm @ work. It's very cute to come home and see what they've picked out for themselves each day :)

Way cute kids!

Ice Cream said...

My son tried to tell a girl that she couldn't be a knight because she wasn't a boy. I asked him, "So next time I make cookies do you want me to tell you that only girls can make cookies?" He looked at me with big eyes, "Nooooo."

"Well, if boys can make cookies, girls can be knights, it's as simple as that!"

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Ha. I love this! I might just let my son sleep with a doll, err wait, he already does. :O

Oh, they're so adorable.

Wendi said...

Those pictures are just too cute!
The perfect pictures to capture the title of your blog:
"Choosing My Own"! ...perfect!

Karen said...

My kids were stereotypical. My sons played with dolls, but within no time at all were decapitating them or undressing them. Or running over them with anything on wheels.

Lindsey said...

MM would rather play with dinosaurs than dolls. How lucky are you to wake up to such darling kids??? They truly are precious....

Chrissy said...

I have two girls but try to keep the toys and my expectations of them as gender neutral as possible... you know: blocks, musical instruments, arts and crafts supplies. Beyond that we just follow their cues as to what they're interested in.

My toddler has *always* loved playing with balls. It's just her thing. She has a doll that she sometimes plays with, but even then she's throwing a ball to her!

So...dolls/balls, trucks/tiaras...it's anything goes around here!

San Diego Momma/Two Funny Brains said...

You are doing important work with this gender challenge. Keep it up.

As for my family: we are another naked homestead (by "we," I mean "they," as in "the kids.")

Also? Sometimes Cheez Doodles for breakfast.

Deb
sandiegomomma.com

Burgh Baby said...

You rock. That is all.

Angela said...

My son has a play kitchen and pink dishes.

If they are comfortable let them do it.
Smiles!

Courtney said...

They are too cute!! I love them and hope to see you soon!
love, C
p.s. how do i shake it up? I let my son hang out with cross dressing twins :)

T. said...

Since Henry is the only kid (left in the house) there were no girl clothes or toys to pick from so when he asked for a barbie and a pink carebear when we were at the store, I bought it for him. Oh and he wears Laura's princess pajamas when he spends the night at her house. I TOTALLY think it's OK to let them wear whatever they want, unless you happen to be going to Grannie's for dinner. ;-) Then we have to do the grannie drills and be proper and all.

Miss Lisa said...

I think boys look sweet in pink :)