The world is changing, and we are seeing a lot of things being considered to be normal or accepted, which were not before. Is it a bad thing that the world is evolving? Who says this way is normal? Who determines normal? I know a parent who lets her son play with tea sets and dolls, she says he must not see the difference in toys, he must play with all types of toys. I know another mother who refuses to buy her daughter tea sets and kitchen sets, she says it stereotypes the roll of a woman. So she buys her child the same toys as the toys she buys for her sons. Are they wrong to do that?
The show was pretty interesting on Monday, Amard and Tich (my co-presenters) were on the definite 'NO'. They said boys should play with trucks and girls should play with dolls, BUT girls can also play with trucks, to empower them and prepare them for life. Different rules for each sex??
A listener said you can't force a child to play with what you believe they should play with, this is because she bought certain toys for her child and naturally her daughter was drawn to the dolls.
Another listener said they would never let their son play with dolls because it will make them soft, and men are meant to be tough and strong, and thus play with trucks.
To be honest, the responses were not what I expected, Im actually not sure what I expected. But I did start to think, why do the rules and conditions change for girls? Why are parents more worried about the effects on their sons than the effects on their daughters? What are the fears parents have? Doesn't it depend on the child's character? My innocent thinking is probably because I am a mother of girls, so my fears are different.
Girls can definitely learn life skills from playing with trucks and tool sets. When they are older, they won't be afraid to change a tyre assuming they grew up learning how to change one. They will know how to use a screw driver, how to change a light bulb, how to fix a plug etc...right?
What about boys? Do they not learn any life skills?
Personally I wouldn't mix the toys around, I would leave boys to play with trucks and girls to play with dolls. But I do wonder, for those men that ventured into becoming chefs, designing clothes and shoes, designing furniture and kitchens, becoming professional artists, where did they learn that from? The women who have become pilots, engineers, scientists, where did they learn that from?
I truly wonder....
Being a parent now I think is harder than when our parents raised us. There is so much to consider, so much our kids are exposed to, so much we need to know...
Till Next Monday
Keep reading, keep learning, keep your eyes open
Stay Blessed
Tafi
#beingaparent
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