This week, Dana and Helen of Mombian.com share a favorite toy from their son's recent birthday collection, and give a demo of its projectile-launching fun.
They also offer some suggestions for kids' birthday parties and ask viewers to weigh in on gendered gift items.
Check back in two weeks for a new episode.
Submitted by
on July 2, 2009 - 10:00am.
Ballet and Baseball
First off, I wanted to say how much I enjoy your vlog. It's a great parenting blog, no matter what combination of parents a child may have.
Your question about gift bags reminded me of my sixth birthday party (which, sadly, was at a Chuck E. Cheese-type place). Two boys were invited, so my mom prepared two bags that were specifically for them. I don't remember everything that was in the bag (I think it was a lot of gender-neutral stuff, like pencils and gum), but one item that I specifically remember was stickers. The girls got pink ballerina stickers and the boys got blue baseball player stickers. What really stood out to me was thinking that it was okay for girls to like blue baseball players (because I did), but it was not okay for boys to like pink ballerinas (which I liked as well).
If I was going to make a gift bags for my non-existent child's birthday, I would probably try to go with as much gender-neutrality as possible or with what my child wanted. It is their party and the gift bags should be filled with things that they enjoy and want to share with their friends. Why would it be wrong for me to share ballet or baseball with my friends?
However, on the other end of the extreme of gender-neutrality, I read an article about a Swedish couple that is attempting to raise their child without disclosing their gender to the rest of the world. I'd love to hear your feedback on this story!
Link to the article: Swedish parents keep 2-year-old's gender secret.