DS watches girl shows

[tjr42px]

So now that I have your attention...WWYD?

So the other night DW and I were talking. DS is 4 and likes to watch all sorts of cartoons, some of his favorites are stereotypically "girl shows". He likes My Little Ponies, Shimmer and Shine, Strawberry Shortcake, etc.

Quick aside, this morning we were watching MLP and they were in a bowling alley...they totally had a Big Lebowski moment. It was awesome!

So DW brought up her concern that DS is passionate about what he likes and a fear is he is going to be made fun of. He picked out a MLP birthday card for his friend (a little girl) and was so proud of it. He told her he picked it out and that he likes to watch the show. She told him it is a "girl" show and just like the pink popsicle incident he was reluctant to watch his favorite show for a little while because he's not a girl.

So the other night we were talking about what, if anything, we should tell him. He can like whatever he wants but some people might say things to him? But, just telling him that people might think or say something about it will have him concerned.

IDK. I did all sorts of "girl" stuff growing up. DW did "boy" stuff. Kids can be cruel, but kids are also resilient. In my neighborhood there were no boys my age growing up. 3 girls were my friends. We played trucks, ninjas, dolls (Mapletown...any one recall them?), house, etc.

I am of the mindset let him be him without any major attention being brought to it. If and when he is made fun of, we can support him and talk about it. If it isn't Shimmer and Shine now, it will be something later. All kids have quirks and all kids get made fun of. I get trying to protect him, but I think we should encourage him to be him and so when he gets made fun of he says "So what if I'm a Brony, did you see the Lebowski episode? It was freakin' hilarious!" I don't want him to be upset every time someone tells him he likes things that are "not for boys," but I'd be more upset if he didn't enjoy/try the things he enjoys because he's afraid others will judge him

TL DR: I love that my little guy is passionate about his likes. I fear he might get made fun of, but want him to be himself. Kids are cruel. Social norms/shaping starts scary young. How do you deal?

[Deleted]

We draw the line at pink and sparkly Peppa Pig backpacks, but otherwise we are quite happy to let him watch "girl's shows" or play with "girl toys".
When he's older, we'll probably have to explain to him that there are some things that girls tend to like more than boys and things that boys tend to like more than girls. But that ultimately, he's free to like whatever he wants to, and that we love him no matter what.

[tjr42px]

Curious how you decided to draw that line?

DW and I are trying to find our line. The balance between letting him be him and watching him potentially get upset/picked on when we could have "prevented" his feelings getting hurt. We also don't want to point out something he is oblivious to and make him upset/confused. I guess it's just something to keep an eye on: letting him be him and talk to him as things arise in a developmentally appropriate way.

[eddiegotsole]

My DS watches Sherrif Callie. Actually I have heard of quite a few young boys who watch My Little Pony.
Check out this article...
www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/03/grayson_bruce_was_bullied_for_his_my_little_pony_backpack_no_wonder_my_son.html

[tjr42px]

I love sheriff Callie! We have the DJ Shuffle cd and her songs are awesome. I can't wait for volume 2. Lol!

There are a lot of grown men who watch MLP. I mean those without kids. Cuz clearly I watch it. My kiddo turned me on to it, It's a good show. I'm glad he clued be in.

[eddiegotsole]

BTW I know I have been MIA for a while! Work, School and Parenting will always take precedence to other hobbies plus I've also been focused on Baseball with my team (NY METS) in the midst of a playoff run. Football also about to start.

DS is now 9 1/2 months and walking. He's walking everywhere (indoors) and starting to gain a little speed from his slow baby steps. Happened so fast but I guess he was determined. Still other things that he's "supposed" to be doing and not doing yet like waving, so I guess it all balances out!

[tjr42px]

Sept 3, 2015 17:52:08 GMT -5 eddiegotsole said:

My DS watches Sherrif Callie. Actually I have heard of quite a few young boys who watch My Little Pony.
Check out this article...
www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/03/grayson_bruce_was_bullied_for_his_my_little_pony_backpack_no_wonder_my_son.html

A trigger for bullies! WTF?!? Talk about victim blaming and misplaced priorities. What is that education system teaching those kids? Their "zero tolerance policy" seems a tad bit backward.

[eddiegotsole]

Sept 3, 2015 18:18:59 GMT -5 tjr42px said:

Sept 3, 2015 17:52:08 GMT -5 eddiegotsole said:

My DS watches Sherrif Callie. Actually I have heard of quite a few young boys who watch My Little Pony.
Check out this article...
www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/03/grayson_bruce_was_bullied_for_his_my_little_pony_backpack_no_wonder_my_son.html

A trigger for bullies! WTF?!? Talk about victim blaming and misplaced priorities. What is that education system teaching those kids? Their "zero tolerance policy" seems a tad bit backward.

Ridiculous isn't it!?  Unfortunately you can't fix stupid!

[Deleted]

Sept 3, 2015 17:25:49 GMT -5 tjr42px said:

Curious how you decided to draw that line?

DW and I are trying to find our line. The balance between letting him be him and watching him potentially get upset/picked on when we could have "prevented" his feelings getting hurt. We also don't want to point out something he is oblivious to and make him upset/confused. I guess it's just something to keep an eye on: letting him be him and talk to him as things arise in a developmentally appropriate way.

Because wearing a sparkly pink backpack I suspect someone would try to hurt him.  He's only two, but he looks older, he really has no way to defend himself.

Luckily, his grandparents live in England where they sell lots of Peppa Pig stuff for boys AND girls, so he'll be getting some Peppa stuff soon

[tjr42px]

I've been watching a good deal of Jem and the Holograms these days. Glad kiddo likes shows that I used to watch. Gives me an excuse to watch them too. He was not a huge Fraggle Rock fan. I hope DS2 is. Love the Fraggles.

I mentioned Fraggle Rock at work. This younger woman had never heard of them so she googled the show. Can you believe she referred to Fraggle Rock as "a poor man's muppets"!?!? Excuse me? Red, Gobo, Wembly, Traveling Matt, Boober, the dozers?...poor man's muppets my ass!

[housecarder]

Hope I'm not intruding here, DS is three and looks up to DD (5) and often wants to wear her clothes and play with the same things. I was taking him to daycare the other day and he had his nails painted blue per his request. One of the other little boys said loudly to the another little boy "Look, he's got his nails painted like a girl." DS made me so proud by responding "I not a girl, I a boy. My favorite color blue, see!" and held up his nails. The other kids were then like "Cool!"
H and I are both very adamant about not telling him what he is allowed to like because of gender stereotypes. I wouldn't tell DD she can't like blue so why should I tell DS he can't like pink? No one would ever tell a girl she can't like Superman, why is it such a bad thing for a boy to like Cinderella? It really bothers me that we have such a feminist movement going, but no one is doing the same for our boys and allowing them to like whatever they want to.
Kids are going to always find things to pick on each other about. I would let your son enjoy the things he likes and if other kids say anything to him I would just reinforce that he can watch whatever shows he likes and there is no such thing as a "girl show" or a "boy show".

[tjr42px]

Sept 27, 2015 4:19:45 GMT -5 housecarder said:

Hope I'm not intruding here, DS is three and looks up to DD (5) and often wants to wear her clothes and play with the same things. I was taking him to daycare the other day and he had his nails painted blue per his request. One of the other little boys said loudly to the another little boy "Look, he's got his nails painted like a girl." DS made me so proud by responding "I not a girl, I a boy. My favorite color blue, see!" and held up his nails. The other kids were then like "Cool!"

That's so awesome!

[tjr42px]

DS1 hasn't asked to paint his nails, but does ask to paint mommy's. Honestly, I think he doesn't like his color options. If DW had the right shade of blue or orange he'd be all for it.

[JukEboXtheTanK]

This is a tough question because as they grow up the confusion could be rough. Either way at that age it is normal to let kids have experiences and see what they do and don't like. As they grow it is those experiences that we can help mold them into a person that will fit in better but still keep them an individual. For now though they may grow and make friends and realize "wow that was kind of lame" and migrate to the guy sort of things. If not then that's ok too.