Our very good friends are celebrating their daughter’s first birthday party on Saturday and invited us to join them in the fun! How delightful, I thought and felt excited for an opportunity to go buy a birthday present for a little girl! Not that I don’t enjoy gift-buying for boys, its just that boy-shopping is what I’m used to and its easy. 

So this morning, Eli and I went out to Target with a single mission in mind…to find something lovely, whimsical perhaps, and very cute for this sweet 1-year-old.   And then we got to the girl section….and that mission took a turn.

It was so pink! 

I mean, I’m a girl. So its not like pink is unnatural to me, but after nine-years of raising boys, well, we just don’t spend much time in the pink section of Target. Its also not a color that’s too easy to find here in the house, either.

I became very intimidated at all the pink dolls and ponies and games and make-believe and princesses that I began to wonder what I would eventually decide upon. And, to my dismay, any potential items were not age appropriate (meaning ages 3 and older because of choking hazards). I remember this caution with my boys and I usually just took the choking hazards away, thus eliminating the risk. But I can’t assume that our very responsible friends follow that same mentality. 

Meanwhile, my young boy became increasingly irritated by all the “girl-stuff” around us. 

“Moooommmmm, can we please go look in the boy section, now?” 

I explained to him that its OK for him to not prefer the color pink but we don’t use the word “hate,” especially when its something so insignificant as a color. “No, son, you don’t hate the color pink.” Well, I learned that the only pink that my boy likes is on skirts that I wear. Because I’m his mom and he loves me, he said. Funny, though, I don’t own any pink skirts. But if I did, I would proudly wear it for him!

As I followed him into the boy section, still empty handed and undecided, It occurred to me…LEGOS!! Of course! Duplo makes perfect big-sized bricks for toddler-sized hands and the age on the box was more forgiving at 11/2 – to 3-years-old.

Thank goodness! My boy is much more comfortable with a box of Duplo Legos in the house than perhaps a “Flopsy Mopsy” doll that I had in my hands originally. 

Please  note: I am pretty sure “Flopsy Mopsy” is incorrect. I just can’t begin to start remembering all these names. But it was the doll with the buttons for eyes. Super cute, if I may say so. Its no wonder she appeals to me. She’s crafty!

And, I was quick to remind my young son that his dislike of “All” girls is unwarranted as his grandmothers are girls…his auntie is a girl…his neighbor friends are girls…some of his pals at school are girls….

“Yea, yea, yea. Ok…. ” he said to me, thoughtfully. “But they are the only ones I like!”