There’s a really great method of determining whether something is for boys or for girls, and it should be a rule of thumb for all parents, or for anyone who has anything to do with children. All you need to ask yourself is this: “Does it require a penis / vagina to wear or operate?”
If the answer is “no”, then you can rest assured that the item is for both boys and girls, and sleep soundly at night knowing that you’re not accidentally influencing your child’s preferences based on what was between their legs at birth.
If the answer is “yes”, you’d bloody well better hustle that kid out of the room or click “cancel order” quick smart, because that item sure as all hell isn’t for children (as a rule, even if the shop claims to sell toys, if it has blacked out windows, a back entrance, and ‘XXX’ in neon above the door, you probably shouldn’t be shopping there for your kids).
Now that you know how to differentiate between boys’ toys and girls’ toys, I have one favour to ask of you: please, please stop telling your children that pink is a girls’ colour. It isn’t just stupid (it’s just a colour, just like every other colour in the damn rainbow), it can be really damaging. I didn’t realise the full extent of the problem until I had my third child; an absolutely delightful little boy who loves running, smashing up matchbox cars, annoying his brother and sister, superheroes, and playing with his penis 24/7.
Teddy, bless his little heart, also loves ponies, playing dolls’ houses, Shopkins, and the colour pink. As his mother it breaks my heart to see him trying to distance himself from the things he loves because three and four-year-old kids at kindy and childcare have told him that pink is a girls’ colour. Even if this is not something you’ve had to deal with, does it not strike you as absolutely absurd that any parent should need to pull the new kindy teacher aside at the start of the year for a whispered conversation about their son’s controversial favourite colour?
