For the record I am well versed on gender stereotyping. I sat through a number of college courses on the subject and we do give our boys plenty of room to like whatever they like, even if that includes what main stream media feels is for girls.

They’ve had a cabbage patch doll since they were about that same size, they hang with Dora on a regular basis  and I confidently proclaimed the Beauty and the Beast toothbrush to be perfect when the dental hygenist tried convincing my son to choose the CARS one instead.

So what’s the big deal?

Recently we were shopping for new eye glasses with Big Brother. At this particular store they don’t seperate boy styles from girl styles so he was sifting through them all and came up with his favourite pair. It had orange arms but around the rims was pretty much pink.

We encouraged him to keep looking, there was lots to choose from.

He set the pink pair near my purse.

“Maybe we can ask if they come in another colour” I suggested.
“I like pink” he responded.

hmmm….what to do.

In reality I didn’t want to buy him any ‘flashy’ pair of glasses. These will be on his face every single day for about 2 years. And kids change their favourites every other month. Simple is best. At a price tag of $200 whatever we brought home we were stuck with for the long haul.

But my heart still felt heavy. I knew that we were never going to let him pick a pink pair of glasses.

What would his friends say?
Would the kids at school tease him?
Would snarky adults laugh over his head and sarcastically tell him they ‘liked his glasses’?
Would he look back year’s from now on all the pictures of himself and yell at us for buying him pink glasses?

What was more important? Letting him choose the pair he wanted or protecting him from the rest of the world? The last thing we wanted to do was crush his individuality, but we feared his feelings were asking to be hurt. And the price of the glasses were just to high to take that chance on him refusing to wear them after one encounter.

In the end, we said no. He had to choose another pair. We didn’t even say the word pink, we just told him that they were really expensive and the pair we choose had to be mommy and daddy’s favourite too. We all had to agree on the pair and eventually we did.

Daddy also promised him that he could pick a new pair of funky sunglasses, any pair he wanted.

Look, parenting is a tough gig. We don’t have all the answers and we won’t always make the right decisions. But I think if you err on the side of loving your child, you can’t go too far of the mark.