Thursday, April 05, 2007

Care-A-Lot?


I've mentioned before, here and here, that my son is obsessed with sheep. He still is. It's not unusual to see him wondering around the house with a plush lamb of any size saying, "I'm a good shepherd. I take good care of my sheep." However, his needs to love and protect are not limited to sheep. Anything which looks cute or helpless is in dan...I mean, luck. Lately he's fixated on Care Bears. No, I am not OK with that, thanks for asking.
We walked into Arby's the other day with my only son and heir carrying a purple Care Bear with a flower on it's belly. Which made me question myself, of course. Am I making a mistake here? This led me, then, to make an actual mistake. I mentioned to him, just casually, that Care Bears are kind of "girly" and maybe he could find something else to beg for at Wal-Mart, like Thomas the Train Engine, or Tonka Trucks, or footballs. Pretty much anything else but Care Bears. The following discussion ensued a few days later.

"Mommy, I want to go to Wal-Mart and buy a Care Bear. I want a girly one." (Because, yes, some are girlier than others, and we'd discussed that too. The one he wants is pastel tie-dye with hearts on the belly. Absolutely as girly as it gets.)

"Well, Ummm, are you sure, because Care Bears are really kind of for girls, you know, and you're a boy. A big boy"

"No, I'm a girl. I want a Care Bear."(Which causes Mommy to furiously back-pedal)

"Well, Zaya, you don't have to be a girl to play with Care Bears, you know. Boys can play with them too. They are, in essence, girly, that's true, but I suppose you can be a big boy and still play with Care Bears." (Please!)

"Ok. I want the girly one."

I told him, "We'll see", and then he forgot about it because he wanted to do something else. Thank goodness.

What a tightrope we walk as parents. Whew.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

HA! That really made me laugh!

Johanna said...

Zachsry reads your blog. He thinks your so funny. Keep up the good work! ")

Robin Green said...

I have found, through the years, to just not make a big deal out of these things. My son use to like to play dolls with his sisters. We decided that since he will probably be a dad someday, it was no big deal. We just let it be, and he eventually moved on to other things. I wouldn't worry too much :)! He looks like a fine manly boy to me!

Crissybug said...

What a cute story. You will have to show this to him when he is older and he will probably laugh.

Caden likes dolls and stuff too. He likes to play with Sydney's tea set, and other 'girly' things.

We are in the process of ongoing potty training. He does pretty well, but still insists on taking off all clothes below his belly before doing his business...and he has to sit down on the potty. I tried to tell him that big boys stand like daddy's to go pee, and girls sit like mommy's. He looked at me and said -- Okay, I sit like mommy's!! I had to do the same backpedal as you!

Eshtemoa said...

Yes, this photo might be useful for a little blackmail one day when he is a teenager...

Qtpies7 said...

LOL thats great! I didn't want my first born son to play with dolls, but my husband, who was raised to be progressive or some such hoo-ha, bought him a doll. Which he proceeded to breast feed while I fed my little baby. Yeppers, I was a freakin' out!
Daddy has since gotten a manly backbone and realized there are girly and boyish things, and thats that!