#lettoysbetoys, #letclothesbeclothes etc - Saying no to gender stereotypes

[JumpingIn]

A thread in honour of my 16 month old son, whose favourite games at the moment are 'vacuuming' (with sticks) sweeping (with his own little brush) pushing his dollies around in their prams, having tea parties and riding in his super cool pink Mini. A few weeks ago it was all dinos and trucks, but his interests are really diversifying. Share your gender stereotype crushing toddler awesomeness here.

Here's Zach out on the town in his car. 95% of people adore seeing this sweet boy in his car, whether he's in typical 'boy' gear or is wearing butterfly wings, and the 5% who make comments about his 'girly' stuff don't get our attention for long.

The ladies at nursery always compliment his style too (yes he chooses his own outfits, each clothing item from a field of two...so choice of 2 shirts, 2 trouser pairs etc) and his choices vary from purple leggings to digger jumpers to combinations of those!

Kids are awesome and I love watching this exploration without adult prejudice. Here's to those letting kids be kids

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

Love this! My three year old boy was obsessed with vacuum cleaners for a very long time. We bought him an IKEA toy kitchen for his second Christmas which his sister also loves. Best Buy ever! He did love cooking in his toy kitchen and baking and he used to love pretending to iron. Not sure how he knew what to do. Must have seen my mum or sister doing it!

Now he's in to witches and is obsessed with Room on the Broom. He also likes playing hairdressers and when he goes to his nanas he hunts out her make up brushes and pretends to put make up on himself and any one who will let him!

My daughter is 16 months and mainly in to cars and throwing things!

 

[kellyc1987]

My 18 month old loves to pretend to vacuum and has a tea pot which he loves to pretend to make me tea with

Not sure I would trust him to pick his own clothes though lol

 

[Rainbow82]

My 17 month old loves his pink and green smart trike and pushing his dolly in a buggy. He has got a pink hetty set for Xmas with Hoover, moo and brush etc. He loves sweeping. He also love brushing my hair and pretending to put makeup on himself lol. And on his toy dinosaurs. He also loves making mud pies and playing with his trucks and cars.

 

[JumpingIn]

Love this! My three year old boy was obsessed with vacuum cleaners for a very long time. We bought him an IKEA toy kitchen for his second Christmas which his sister also loves. Best Buy ever! He did love cooking in his toy kitchen and baking and he used to love pretending to iron. Not sure how he knew what to do. Must have seen my mum or sister doing it!

Now he's in to witches and is obsessed with Room on the Broom. He also likes playing hairdressers and when he goes to his nanas he hunts out her make up brushes and pretends to put make up on himself and any one who will let him!

My daughter is 16 months and mainly in to cars and throwing things!

Ah I was thinking of getting a toy kitchen for Christmas...when did he start talking an interest? Zach adores his tea set and helping me with the washing machine and dishwasher so it seems like it would go down well but I don't want to waste a lot of money if he's not interested!

So sweet any the makeup! Zach just rummages in my bag and opens and closes the powder and blushers!

We love Room on the Broom too! Especially the bog. For some reason my partner decided the dragon was from Birmingham and now he just makes us burst out laughing!

 

[JumpingIn]

My 17 month old loves his pink and green smart trike and pushing his dolly in a buggy. He has got a pink hetty set for Xmas with Hoover, moo and brush etc. He loves sweeping. He also love brushing my hair and pretending to put makeup on himself lol. And on his toy dinosaurs. He also loves making mud pies and playing with his trucks and cars.

Ah another male dolly fan! Zach has 3 dollies. Two have perfect outfits and accessories and are really pretty. One is naked and has scribbles on and was 50p in the charity shop. Guess which is his favourite!

Your boy sounds so sweet. We need pics! Zach also loves trucks and diggers but probably not as much as his pram

 

[JumpingIn]

My 18 month old loves to pretend to vacuum and has a tea pot which he loves to pretend to make me tea with

Not sure I would trust him to pick his own clothes though lol

I wasn't sure but turns out he has a better sense of style than me! Sometimes I'll hold up 2 choices and hell look at me like I'm nuts, then reach for a 3rd option which matches the rest of the outfit better!

 

[_Meep_]

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

Love this! My three year old boy was obsessed with vacuum cleaners for a very long time. We bought him an IKEA toy kitchen for his second Christmas which his sister also loves. Best Buy ever! He did love cooking in his toy kitchen and baking and he used to love pretending to iron. Not sure how he knew what to do. Must have seen my mum or sister doing it!

Now he's in to witches and is obsessed with Room on the Broom. He also likes playing hairdressers and when he goes to his nanas he hunts out her make up brushes and pretends to put make up on himself and any one who will let him!

My daughter is 16 months and mainly in to cars and throwing things!

Ah I was thinking of getting a toy kitchen for Christmas...when did he start talking an interest? Zach adores his tea set and helping me with the washing machine and dishwasher so it seems like it would go down well but I don't want to waste a lot of money if he's not interested!

So sweet any the makeup! Zach just rummages in my bag and opens and closes the powder and blushers!

We love Room on the Broom too! Especially the bog. For some reason my partner decided the dragon was from Birmingham and now he just makes us burst out laughing!

A brummy dragon! That's hilarious! I'm going to try that. He's usually a posh dragon.

With regards to the kitchen, we got it for him at Christmas, a month before he was 2 but he started showing an interest in his cousins one at about 18 months.

My 16 month old daughter is really in to it at the moment. Not in a role play sense but she loves standing at it and putting things in the cupboards!


I can see a good few years of use ahead of us.

 

[JumpingIn]

Weetch and cheeps for moy tea! He does amazing characters in I'm Not Cute too...There's a rather camp fox with a lisp, a Barnsley rabbit and a cockney squirrel!

Brill, I think I'll get a kitchen but not sure which brand. A nice wooden one would be good. I'll keep looking. Bless your little girl. I love the whole 'put it in take it out' stage. Yesterday my boy spent 15 minutes moving pegs from one basket to another. Winning! (Let's forget the rest of the day when he needed constant attention)

Meep that's the cutest thing I've seen today To the rescue!

 

[_Meep_]

Heheheh, eeek, there's a spider in the house!

 

[JumpingIn]

She's awesome. I love her name by the way. She even sounds like a superhero

Ps. Congrats on no.2!

 

[_Meep_]

Ah thanks, and thanks! She is definitely a superhero ... hopefully #2 will be one too. I'd quite like having two little Spidermen scuttling about and spinning crime-busting webs.

 

[JumpingIn]

Sounds good to me. Wish I was brave enough to go through it all again right now but I feel like I'm still in recovery! I'm excited to see who you have coming!

 

[_Meep_]

Me toooo. I know, you had a tough birth and a really awful time with Zach's reflux didn't you ... it's surely unlikely to all be so hard again, but I'd definitely be scared too. I'm scared enough about this one really! I hope I'll cope!

You'll know when the time is right I am sure, and then you'll be able to do it.

 

[JumpingIn]

Thanks for the encouragement I know I'll brave it one day, and you're right, it will be different I'm sure (OK I pray). Anyone who loves more than one child has my maximum respect though, it's hard for anyone. But it's an adventure! Hope your pregnancy is going easy on you. Morning sickness and a toddler wouldn't be fun!

 

[_Meep_]

Sad to say I do have morning sickness lol. But it's the just-about-manageable kind, as long as I force myself to eat regularly. I relish the moments in which I actually fancy something ... right now, it's Domino's pizza, so that's what we're getting!

 

[AngelofTroy]

I love this thread! My son is 4 now and chooses most of his own clothes, which range from Star Wars waistcoats to sparkly leggings

https://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Melon1687/IMG_20160324_094642_zps8e9hnllp.jpg
https://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Melon1687/IMG_20160721_090618_zpsqn8qaswh.jpg

My 4 month old daughter is usually dressed at least partly from the "boy's" section..

https://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Melon1687/IMG_20161021_113540_zpsdfdirfba.jpg

 

[DebbieF]

My 18 month old son loves playing with his broom and dustpan. He also has a pink (plastic) golf club he loves to carry around. He also likes to push around his sisters pink grocery cart and put food in it

 

[Teri7489]

Love this. Both my kids (boy and girl) love lots of different things. building blocks, dolly and pram, Minnie mouse, cars, diggers and trucks. My sons favourite right now is pushing his rabbit (his most treasured toy ever) around in the pram and I find it adorable. Our friends were over with their little boy who is 6 weeks older than my son and when their son played with the pram his dad said "leave the pram son, youre a boy not a sissy' which I found quite sad.

Here's my boy happily playing with a pram not giving a hoot about it being pink and a 'girls' toy!