What's Wrong With Being a Stereo Typical Girl?

This morning, I read a great blog post about legos on a site that I love, Lil Blue Boo. http://www.lilblueboo.com/2012/08/sexist-legos.html#comment-73229  The post was all about the new "girl" Legos and if it should be sort of offensive that girl Legos are pink and include accessories like kitchen tools and sewing stuff.   Is it stereotyping women?   The blogger on Lil Blue Boo didn't think so and I don't either.  Here's why.  My daughters love the girls legos, which are really called "Lego Friends" and my daughters would be overjoyed if Lego friends  came out with a huge pink princess castle.  They don't want a gray, dungeon filled, Gothic castle.  They would turn their noses up to the Death Star.  They aren't the least bit drawn to all the Star Wars stuff.   Believe me, I know.  Dave has tried his hardest to make them long for those things.  He desperately wants an excuse to buy those things.

I have two daughters and without any coaxing, they ARE drawn to stereo typically "girl" things.  They love dresses, cooking, sewing,cleaning tools, babies, weddings, hair stuff, dancing, princesses and nearly anything that's pink.  They  openly discuss their dream weddings and their plans to have lots of babies.  As of yesterday, Sasha was still planning to have a minimum of 6 babies!  They are little girls and they are dreamers and they relish the role of being little mini-moms.  Does this worry me?  Not a bit.  Why should they be ashamed of being exactly who they are?  What's wrong with being feminine?  A world without stereo typical women would suck.

I love being a woman.  I adore all the girly things in life.  A huge part of my job description is being a "home maker".  I get the impression that the term "home maker" is negative now days.  Like it's pathetic or demeaning to be called that.  Honestly, it really bothers me that the role of stay at home mother is so deeply under valued in our 2012 society.  I love being a mom.  I feel very lucky to be in a situation where I can stay home and raise my kids.  They won't be kids forever and this is a relatively short phase of life.  I will have to go back out into the paid job force when my girls are older and more independent, but I am enjoying this time with them.  If I weren't doing it, I'd be paying someone else to do it, and the control freak in me loves that I get to be the one calling all the shots.  The world needs moms and child care givers.  It's a huge responsibility and it's a VERY important job.  I don't receive a hefty pay check to validate my importance as a mom, but I know what it's worth.

I will encourage my girls to go to college and get their degrees, but I wouldn't be the least bit disappointed if they went to beauty school and or ended up being stay at home moms.  It's a great life.  I know so many highly educated women who are forced to make great sacrifices.  Do they get that time with their kids or do they go to work and bring home the fat paychecks that their advanced degrees have earned them?  I see what a struggle that choice is for so many women.  And for many, it isn't a choice.  Their paychecks are heavily depended on and "home making" isn't an option at all.

Just last night, Dave and I were talking about a mutual friend of ours.  She has an amazing job and she travels all over the world.  She gets to see and do so many spectacular things.  I'll bet she gets paid a lot to do it too.  Her life looks so cool, and she probably has her dream job but Dave and I both recognized that there's a price you pay to have such an amazing job.  I don't know if she has any desire to get married or have any kids, but it would be very hard to do those things while also juggling her work schedule.  Women have the added pressure of the dreaded biological clock.  If you want to have kids, it sort of has to be done in a timely manner.   Dave looked over at me and said, "Her job would be so cool, but I wouldn't trade our girls for any opportunity in the world."  I totally agreed.  I love that I live in a country where a woman can achieve almost anything that she desires.  I love that we all have the potential to climb to the top of any corporate ladder, but I also love skipping all of it in favor of raising two adorable little girls.   It's a kick ass, under valued job and it suits me just fine.