Son Wants a Girly Toy for Birthday?!

I tell my daughter there are no girl toys or boy toys, there are just toys. She has ponies and superheroes.

I like to use this handy flowchart when deciding if a toy is for boys or girls. http://randomyesusefulno.com/post/36822512261/is-the-toy-...

I don't really know what boy toys and girl toys are. I have a boy and a girls and they both play with each other's toys. I say, buy him the toy he wants since that's what he's asking for.

how on earth are ponies girly?
but even if what he wanted was girly, why is that a problem?
khairete
confused S.

I was the manager of a bakery for many years, one day i was taking a cake order from a young mother of a small boy and as we were going over colors for the cupcakes she wanted with the cake - she mentioned aloud that she was worried that *yellow* iced cupcakes would be too feminine for her son's birthday party.

I told her that unless I'd missed some official memo - colors did not have genders.

And I believe that toys do not either.

Get your son what he wants for his birthday and be happy and pleased and feel blessed that you have a healthy, beautiful child to raise in a world where so many do not.

:)

And here's to wishing your son many, many more birthdays with presents that make him feel as special as he will always be.

xoxo

Get him what he wants. Good lord, what are you afraid of?

I am reminded of a spot on graphic a friend (who is pregnant with her first child... a girl) posted on facebook recently. It was a decision tree diagram for girl vs boy toys.

Do you operate the toy with your genitals?

Yes ---> Stop. This is not a toy for children.

No ---> This toy is appropriate for either boys or girls.

Seriously. You asked him what he wanted and he told you. If you aren't going to get him that, why did you ask? Ponies are animals. Girls don't have a monopoly on liking animals. Period.

That being said (and the answer I think you're looking for) YES... this is totally normal and common. At this age, kids don't have the gender role hang-ups adults do and it's normal for them to like what they like without thinking about which gender it's meant for... also, totally normal for kids to like what their siblings like regardless of gender. DS (7) LOVED everything about merpeople for like a year and a half... EVERYTHING... he wanted to wrap his legs in the swimming pool etc., now he's obsessed (in exactly the same way) with Power Rangers. Who's to say which one is for boys?

Relax and get him the toy he wants.

Mom:

I'm sorry - I don't get it. What is the problem here? He told you what he wanted. If you can afford it, buy it.

Do you think him wanting a "girl" toy is going to make him gay or something? it won't. IT IS A TOY.

Let him explore toys. What's wrong with him wanting "My Little Pony"??? Seriously. Boys ride horses. So what that it's targeted towards girls. OH WELL!! IT'S A TOY!! DO NOT make a big stink out of this.

If you can afford it - buy him what he wants.

Happy birthday to your son and to your upcoming baby girl!

I think forcing gender stereotypes onto our children does more harm then good. You are putting your hang ups onto this child, there is nothing wrong with him liking my little pony, but if you keep saying there is or that it is girly he will feel like he is wrong for liking what he likes, and as an extension he will think something is wrong with him. Is that really the message you want to send? when my son wanted a toy kitchen, he got one. When he asked for littles pet shop over hot wheels, he got them. Let the boy be who he is.

Seriously - ponies are girly? Most jockeys, trainers and owners are male. There is no reason at all that toys should be girl toys or boy toys.

This is an excerpt from a Swedish toy catalog owned by Toy R Us:

http://twentytwowords.com/2012/11/30/swedish-toy-catalog-...

There is a great cartoon going around facebook - how to tell if a toy is for a girl or boy.
1. Is the toy operated with one's genitals?
Yes - this is not a toy for children
No - this is a toy for a boy or girl

There's a whole culture of adult men that love MLP.....they call themselves "Bronies" :) A very large, manly, father of 3, bodybuilder friend of my husband's is a "Bronie."

Get him what would make him happy.

I say buy him what he wants. I was a little girl who was more into Ninja Turtles than Barbie. It's not a big deal. It's a phase. If it's what he likes now, let him be who he is.

The first Barbie ever purchased in this household was for my son - at his request. He'd watched Barbie and the Nutcracker and desperately wanted the doll and the Prince doll. So I got them for his birthday. He loved them for a while, then they eventually got grouped together with his younger sisters' collection of Barbies. He's 15 now and will absolutely deny that those two dolls are, in fact, HIS!

I say if your son wants ponies, get him ponies. Why limit his imagination to only boy stuff?

Why on earth would a pony be considered a girl toy? Horses are awesome to anyone.

So buy him the my little ponies. What's the big deal? My son bought his baby sister a batman for her 1st birthday. He's so young you don't need to make him feel ashamed for liking a "girly" thing. You will learn very soon what many of us mommies of both gender kids already know, there's no toys off limits! My son whose 7 has no problems playing baby dolls or my little ponies or watching my littlest pet shop with his sister. And once she's old enough I'm sure she will play beyblades and super heros.

Yes, you should buy him what he wants. Since when are toys "girly" or "boy" toys?? Please don't raise your child with such narrow definitions or tell him he's wrong for liking what he likes. My Little Pony is about friendships and adventure. What's so wrong about that for boys? My daughter plays cars with her brother and my son plays my little pony with his sister. When my son wanted a doll, I asked questions -- he wanted a boy doll he could treat as a friend or little brother. So that's what he got. And my daughter wanted a nerf gun. So that's what she got. You honor your child by validating his choices.

My DD's little friend is 6. He likes My Little Pony. He also loves blocks and his ponies are likely to be waging some sort of aerial warfare on the block cities while the ones DD plays with are having tea. A lot of kids like Rainbow Dash because she's a bit [email protected]$$.

I would buy him one or a movie. I see no more harm in this than the Jurassic Park I live in with my daughter.

FYI, there are some male ponies: http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Characters

I was unable to find most of them as toys (boo, seriously, there's a market) but there are sets like this with more characters to them: http://www.hasbro.com/mylittlepony/en_US/shop/details.cfm...

Or here's one with the Apple Family:

http://www.hasbro.com/mylittlepony/en_US/shop/details.cfm...

My son went through it. More than anything he wanted a doll house when he was 4. My mom got him one. It was more a ranch but had a mom, dad, kids and animals. He played with it till he was probably 10. She also at 3 got my boys a little kitchen and dishes. They lived that also. They are all well adjusted men now. Not sure why you think this is a problem. Is it my little pony that he's asking for? If so they make boy ponys. But you know boys need to know how to cook, clean and take care of others. Playing is a good way to encourage this.

My boys have watched all the princess movies. When they where younger they were both in love with one of the princesses. They will still watch them with me. There is nothing wrong with him wanting ponys.

Girl toys and boy toys? Really? Toys are not gender specific. Buy him what he wants.

He wants the girly things because they are so different from what he's used to. He also sees major changes coming in the house and the influx of girly toys has him thinking they look new and exciting.

Buy him the ponies. He'll play with them for awhile and when he moves back to spiderman, you can put them away until your daughter is old enough to use them. My son likes to play with the girly toys his sister gets, but he always tires of them fairly quickly.

Don't read too much into it. If that's what he wants to play with, let him. It's a good way to help him work through the fact that a new baby is coming and that it's a girl - something he knows nothing about yet!

I have a girl and boy.
My boy is the younger one.
He grew up with pink girly things since he was born.
He likes Spiderman too.
And, he also likes what his sister played with when she was a Toddler. ie: Little pony things, the Little Pet Shop toy things etc. And he has, his own. Of these things.
So what.
He plays with his sister... both girl things and boy things.
He has NO problem with knowing who he is and what he likes.
He is a very rough and tumble boy. And he is very bright and has lots, of interests.
No biggie.
Kids are so young and go through so many phases developmentally.
No biggie.

My son is 6.
We don't make a big deal of it if he plays with his sister "girly" things.
She plays with him TOO, with his boy things.

Lots of boys like girly things, just like lots of girls like boyish things. Frankly, I get a little annoyed at all the attempts to stuff certain kinds of things into the boy camp and certain kinds of things into the girl camp.

Buy him the My Little Pony stuff. Some of the videos even have scary adventures. I remember a family visit where my daughter and her two older boy cousins were all glued to some My Little Pony video that I brought for my dd.

Respect his wishes and respect him for who he is.

Not sure if this will really anwser your question but my kids have a My Little Pony train. It is battery operated and came with tracks that you can put together all different ways. You can get different cars and attachments for it. The ponies ride in the train. Both my kids love it, I have a boy and a girl. My son also loves the ponies but mostly uses them as a weapon by swinging them by the tails into things. My kids are crazy though, lol.

Don't sweat it. Seriously. I just ran into two grown men yesterday at the pub-- we were having a conversation about Star Trek and all sorts of sci-fi stuff and one of them was saying how 'cool' My Little Pony was. These were burly guys, post college, in their 30s.... get what I'm saying. I don't know that they would have copped to it if they hadn't known I was a mom of a six year old, but they did!

Kids go through phases.... just let him enjoy what he likes.FWIW, lots of the boys in my son's kindergarten class claim to like MLP too.

Get him to Pony/Horse stuff with Cowboy accessories - encourage him. Why not get him some old black & white Lone Ranger movies and such too

there arent very many pony toys for boys and if he is into them I dont see a problem buying them for him. How old is he?

My dd used to love to play with trucks...now she's a girly girl, with pink, purple everything.

I hear where you are coming from with this. While hubs and I aren't of the opinion that there are girl toys and boy toys, my father is. When one of DS's teachers recommended we get him a dollhouse to foster pretend play, we bought a fully outfitted fire station instead.

With that in mind, if my little pony offends your sensibilities, maybe you can get a my little pony cross over product, like the pony train someone described, or get other horses, and maybe the black stallion books/ movies.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Lots of boys love My Little Pony, it is not a girl toy. Teenage boys even like them. It's rather trendy right now.

It would help to know his age.

Did he want 'My Little Pony' stuff or just pony stuff?

BUY IT
I try not to teach my son that girl dont have to wear pink they can wear blue n if he wants he can wear pink purple . W,.e you want
For Christmas i bouoght my SOn a Doll house from the Peppa Pig show n the car

- My Ex his father went threw the roof but IDC I just think its a lil sexist and he way too litttle for that stuff.
(my son father extra religious now n they tend to be sexist )