Thursday, August 11, 2011

Don't label my son!

The other day Jasper saw me paint my nails and wanted me to paint his. So I did.A few toenails in dark blue. He got a couple of looks at the park from some judgmental moms. You know those raised eye brows? Yeah, those.

But you know what? I don't see the big deal. If my 4 year old wants to wear a pink shirt. He can have a pink shirt. If he wants long hair (and for the record I LOVE little boys with long hair) he can have long hair. If he wants his hair up in a pony tail because he sees mine up? I will gladly put it up for him.

When shopping for his friends birthday last week he picked out a barbie for her and then started talking about wanting one. He has some birthday gift cards from relatives, and if he wants to pick out a barbie when he goes shopping? He can have the barbie!

I don't like it when people try to fit others, especially children, into boxes and stereotype them. Stick on labels on them. He's not a 'girly' boy. Or any other label. He's just my SON. My beautiful, smart, funny, amazingly sweet son. If he wants to dribble a basketball with his hair in pig tails? So be it.

Plus- if David Beckham can wear crazy hair styles and still be sexy? Than Jasper can most definitely pull it off.


















10 comments:

  1. He is very cute! I might be one of those mom's who would look twice at the nail polish - but with a big smile on my face thanking that's cool - so don't be too quick to judge if you get looks.

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  2. he is such a cutie
    And i agree about not putting them into boxes. If i had a son and he wanted to paint his nails and play with barbies, i would welcome it!
    xx

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  3. You are so right! I think that making a big deal out of gender stereotypes just confuses kids. Let them have their interests, they are gonna be fine!

    Your post reminded me of this article
    http://nerdyapplebottom.com/2010/11/02/my-son-is-gay/
    It's SOOOO good! :)

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  4. He's adorable!! And yes I agree with you 100%!! You need to let kids be kids. It's mainly the adults who are raising their eyebrows and passing the judgmental looks. What are they teaching their own children with that? Nothing but negativity.
    I let my son play with my heels, and when he see me put chapstick/lip gloss on he wants some too. He likes to put bows in his hair. I'm not worried about him. I will love him regardless.

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  5. He's adorable. i wish my son would wanna do that with his hair!! hes too worried about being judged too.. gotta love people in his life for that one. He's 9 now and is so worried about what every else thinks. i hate it. i know what its like to always worry if you are good enough. i hope he grows out of it... i am still trying to.

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  6. Jasper is adorable and I agree with you with you in not placing on gender stereotypes. People are just too quick to judge sometimes.

    P.S- I love David Beckham he's hot even with all his crazy hairstyles!

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  7. When I worked in a daycare there was this dad that flipped out because his son had a favorite doll at the center he always carried around when he was there. Our director made a good point when she said that by playing with this doll it's teaching him to be nurturing which will make him a great dad one day. :)

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  8. Amen to that, lady! Well said.
    And, for what it's worth, where I live in Japan, it is totally normal, cool even, for guys to wear pink. The coolest looking hipster dudes wear neon-pink shirts, bright purple shoes, and drive around on pink bikes. I'm not kidding.

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  9. I just found your blog and can really relate to this post!
    Our son is always always always being mistaken for a girl cause of his hair and I get it's a simple mistake but when people say thing's like "oh he needs a hair cut he's looking like a girl" THAT ticks me off. People need to stop assuming and labeling. They're kids. I've been told I'm a terrible mother for having my son's hair long that I'm going to confuse him and he'll grow up with gender issues. People are ridiculous. Your little boy is so cute and I'm sure his little nails looked great! Screw everyone else.

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  10. Just found this blog post and I'm so touched. I wish there were more moms like you. My son so desperately wants his nails painted and my husband wont let me because hes worried he will get picked on. So thank you for teaching your son to not be stererotyped. Seriously. Love love love this post.

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