You Turned Your Daughter Into A Mommy

It’s the Christmas season and everywhere you go all you see is toys, toys, toys.

I was talking to a friend of mine and I asked her what she was getting her son (age 2) for Christmas because I did not want to get him the same thing.

I noticed how every time “Ashley” goes to the kitchen to cook, her son tags along and wants to help. “Ashley” is constantly telling him to get out of the kitchen.

I asked “Ashley” if it would be alright to get her son a play kitchen for Christmas. I told her that I would also get the food and the dishes that go with it. That way when “Ashley” goes in the kitchen to cook, her son can go in his own kitchen.

“Mike” (Ashley’s husband) heard our conversation and before “Ashley” had a chance to respond he said NO. I was then told that kitchens are for girls.

That made me start thinking about girl toys, boy toys, and the toys my sister and I had as children.

From an early age little girls want to be mommies. Parents unknowingly train their daughters to be housewives and mothers.

Little girls get baby dolls that cry, that wet themselves and need to be changed, the dolls come with a stroller, bassinets, high chairs, diapers, and a birth certificate. Your daughter is now an official mommy at the age of 3.

Then parents give their daughters the proper equipment needed to take care of a home:

Babies and baby items

Food and grocery carts

Kitchens

Pots and pans

Washer/dryers

Brooms/vacuums

As these girls grow and become young women parents “upgrade” their toys. Now they have to cook in the real kitchen for their family. Their dolls are replaced with their younger siblings and they are now required to do real laundry & keep the house clean.

It’s no wonder that a lot of young girls want to get married and have a family at an early age. They have been training for that their entire lives.

I don’t think that kitchens and other “house hold” toys should be gender specific.

If boys received the same lifelong “domestic” training that the girls receive then maybe the divorce rate wouldn’t be so high.

How about we give our daughters career related toys so that they can aspire to be more than a house wife?

(I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST HOUSEWIVES, I’M JUST SAYING…)

A lot of parents have stopped giving their young girls Barbies because they say that Barbie will lower the girls’ self-esteem. Let’s not talk about Barbie’s looks. Let’s focus on her careers. Barbie has had over 100 different careers.

I just want to give our children a fair shot at life. Boys shouldn't be the only ones receiving lifelong career training and girls shouldn't be the only ones receiving lifelong domestic training.

-Stacie Stiletto