Why I let my son play with dolls..(and why that doesn't mean I'm a feminist)


James has a baby doll. Her name is Baby. (Creative, yes?) He kisses Baby, hugs her, then spikes her on the ground like a football. When he gets ahold of a baby doll stroller, he races it around the house, complete with his own car noises. He also makes those same vroooom noises when he pretends to vacuum with my little pink vacuum (see above pic). He "cooks" in his play kitchen too.

Am I trying to turn him into a girl? No.
Do I think that boys and girls are brainwashed by society? No.

But that doesn't mean I should discourage my son from being a good husband and father someday.

It's natural for James to see his Daddy hold another baby at church and want to mimic that. In fact, sometimes he sees Daddy cook, do dishes, and surely he's already picked up on the fact that Daddy is much better at organizing than Mama. It doesn't diminish my role as the wife and mother in the relationship--in fact it often enhances it. Who isn't a better person when she gets help or a much-needed break? (Can I hear an amen?) And it doesn't mean my husband is less of a man. (Trust me, it's sexy to watch my man's muscles while he changes a light bulb or bends over to pick up a toy.)

So why would I insist that James ONLY play with trucks and tools? Certainly he plays with boy-ish toys, but while he's learning about life, he's going to mimic everything he sees around him. And that's a pretty cool thing, IMHO.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Baby Jack would be proud of your post today... Big K spikes him like a football too but he also hugs him, changes him, gives him baths, puts clothes on him and he LOVES to sweep the floors. It is amazing how children learn and model off of their moms and dads. Thankfully we both have very involved and caring men for them to model :)