Well, that made me really happy.

[Esbayne]

I was at Walmart today, I generally try not to go there but I was looking for something Target or Fred Meyer never have and TRU rarely does, so I headed over and was browsing around and went over to look at Monster High and ponies. (And How to Train Your Dragon action figures but I'm pretty sure that line is dead now.) Anyway, that aisle was completely empty of people, (Crickets chirped and a tumbleweed blew by as I stepped in there) and then within half a minute of me being there, two large families stepped in and had giant carts and just crowded the whole aisle and stepped in front of me when I was looking at things, etc. I started to get pretty irritated and it got hot in that area, so many people all around. Babies screaming and that.

Anyway, a cute little boy who looked about 3 was begging his mom for a Frozen Elsa doll, and she said it was too expensive and to just go get a princess pet instead. And I dunno, that just made me so happy. Feels like just a few years ago, a typical mom might have said something like "No, those are girl toys, you're a boy. You don't play with girl toys." But no, she was really accepting about it and suggested other princess things instead. Just made me so happy knowing there's a little less discrimination in the world, it was cute. And that little boy will also probably grow up to be just as accepting and not as discriminatory because of that.

(And on my way out I ran and jumped on the back of the cart and rode it across the parking lot to the cart return and jumped off right as it rolled into the corral thing, and I turned around and a worker guy there looked at me and was like "That. Was awesome. Have a nice day." lol, fun times at Walmart I guess.)

[Mkia]

Love your story!!

I've actually seen moms tell their little boys "no that's a girl color" and such. I think if they show an interest, let them have it! We shouldn't force boys to like trucks and we shouldn't force girls to like princesses.

[kaoskat]

Very cute! That's a good mom.

[Ponykit]

There need to be more parents like this.

[h1m3.]

Certainly more parents like this !

(I must say you did awesome trick with the cart too I wish I could have seen that )

[HelloGoodbye]

I love hearing stories like that!  I think you hit it right on the money when you said that he will grow up to be accepting because that's how his parents raised him.  I love it when parents are like that.  Thanks for sharing!

[melodys_angel]

Always nice to hear stuff like this

[ghouldilocks]

This is how my brother and sister-in-law raise their kids. Their second child is a little boy, and while Toy Story and Lightning McQueen are pretty much his favorite things right now, he also loves more "girly" things. I always felt it odd that little boys would be discouraged from playing "house" or playing with dolls...little girls are encouraged to do these things and it's seen as the norm, because it's supposed to foster some kind of domestic and nurturing instincts, but those aren't really just feminine qualities imo. Nothing wrong with a little boy wanting to express a nurturing or domestic side as well!

[PNW0611]

That makes me really happy too! Forcing kids into gender roles is a subject I get enraged about (but I won't right now). Imagine what every kid would be like if they didn't have others influencing them to be one way or another.

[DazzleKitty]

That's a really awesome story. Yay for an open-minded momma!

[UrocyonFox]

That makes me so happy! I was heart broken when I was last at Toys R us, there was a little boy and his father and the boy was holding some kind of robot thing (I don't remember it specifically) but it was purple.

He was so excited and you could tell it really bothered the dad. He kept trying to change the little boy's mind "you don't want a different robot? Didn't they have any other colors? Are you sure you want the purple one?" The little boy really wanted to purple one but the dad was trying so hard to get him to change his mind and then the dad asked where the robots were and where the boy had found them.

The dad walked over to the robots with his son and picked up a blue one and proceeded to ask "don't you want this one? Its a boy color. Its better than that purple one" And of course because children are easily impressionable the boy changed his mind and took the blue one.

I mean no real harm done the boy seemed alright but that always seemed like parent bulling to me. "oh I don't want you to have that one so I'm gonna bash it and praise another one"

Its good to hear that there are some parents out there that are trying to change the mind set of the youth

[buddyboymama]

Cool story! I often worry because my daughter likes some stereotypically "boy" toys, like Thomas the Train, cars, and non-pink Legos. My niece wore Spiderman shoes to preschool one day, and a boy teased her about them being "boy" shoes. She warned him a couple of times to knock it off, and then she put him in a headlock! Her dad was really unhappy that he had to punish her for getting in trouble in school, because he knew that she was right.

I used to work at Meijer, and I always loved to see people having fun like riding the carts and such.

[zombienixon]

Cool story! I often worry because my daughter likes some stereotypically "boy" toys, like Thomas the Train, cars, and non-pink Legos. My niece wore Spiderman shoes to preschool one day, and a boy teased her about them being "boy" shoes. She warned him a couple of times to knock it off, and then she put him in a headlock!

That's hilarious.  I bet he won't be bothering her again.

As for your daughter, if none of the other girls like them, there may be a boy who would want to play, too.  There are some little boys that don't think girls are icky.