When we announced to the facebook world that we were expecting, we both posted pictures of mini-vans. Brian's call sign is VAN, so we enjoyed seeing which of our friends would figure out the pun. About a month later, I changed my photo to a purple mini-van. Yup-- the mini-Morrissey is going to be a girl!
I was a bit of a tom-boy growing up. Next to the dresses in my closet were the bike shorts I wore to climb to the highest limb of the tree in our front yard. Amongst the dolls and My Little Pony collection was an admirable set of He-Man action figures.... You get the point. Anyway, these were the thoughts that ran through my cranium the 1st time I went browsing through the racks of baby stuff after learning that the gummy bear was a girl. Then consumer reality hit. Everything was a sea of cotton candy PINK. Even here in Germany! Ugh. I really don't care for that color. Neither does Brian.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that maybe it's not the color itself... maybe it's the negative connotation that it stirs up in my mind; tiaras and princesses and a holier-than-thou sense of entitlement. Maybe it's the gender stereotyping in general-- will wearing something frilly and pink perpetuate the idea that she's 'delicate' and cant dig in the mud with the boys? Honestly, probably not. If she's anything like her parents, by the time she's old enough, there will be grass stains and dirt on whatever color she's wearing. In the meantime, she's just going to be a baby... squishy, needy and not yet able to express her preferences. So, my new resolution: I won't pass up a perfectly adorable outfit, just because it's the shade of bubble gum. We will, instead, try to have a big variety, teach our daughter that she can wear whichever colors she wants, and that she can grow up to be whomever she wants to be. Even if it's a girly-girl... god help us.
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