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Does it matter if girls like pink? Are they programmed to love pink or do they learn from everyone around them that pink is for girls and blue is for boys? Kat Arney in her programme on Radio 4 last week talked about pinkification, nature and nurture. You can read her article here or listen to the programme here, but I’m afraid the bit that I latched on to was that apparently you can buy a Snow White pink vacuum cleaner that sings ‘Some Day My Prince Will Come’ as you play – is he going to free you from chores or keep you doing it I wonder?!
When my girls were little it was certainly possible to buy them pink clothes and toys, but there were plenty of ‘unisex’ items: their ride on car was yellow and red as I recall, but now you can buy the same car in the ‘right’ colour for your child.
I didn’t know what Eldest would be, but blue is my favourite colour so I bought blue baby clothes. I was regularly asked what he was called. I knew Youngest was a girl, but I still bought her a Peter Rabbit babygrow and recycled Eldest’s outgrown blue clothing. Oh they’ve both been through their ‘pink’ phase and were indulged (within reason) at the time, but they also both grew out of it! Both still have the odd pink item in their wardrobes, generally ‘hot’ not pastel. And they both had dolls, but also a Duplo train set and Harry Potter Lego. My girls are definitely girls. Since I only have girls I don't know if I have treated them differently to how I might have treated boys. I guess I would have looked for a football club instead of a ballet school, but only if he'd expressed a preference as Eldest did. Youngest did ballet too for a while: she thought it was what big girls did, and I couldn't face pursuing a different after school club. (To be fair they both did swimming largely because Youngest wanted to.)
When they were very small they had lots of dresses but more often wore dungarees. From about 3-8 they demanded pink dresses, fairy costumes, Barbie dolls and pink bedclothes. Now they mostly wear jeans, many of the dressing-up clothes have been passed down to younger cousins, the Barbies live in a box waiting for small visitors and only Youngest still has pink bedding - her room is black, white and pink when you get under the rubble.
I am glad that I offered them cars, trains and Lego, I am glad I dressed them in blue. I'd rather see little girls go through a pink phase that probably won't last than see them dressed as 'adults' in much of the 'tarty' clothing now available! At the end of the day they are children and I'd rather see pink frills than padded bras and mini skirts. How about you?
We can’t get to the film until next Saturday. We are not happy, but it is the first date when we can all go.
We saw the first film in November 2001 and again in February. That next year we saw film 2 when it came out, and again in 2003.In 2004 film 3, 2005: film 4. And so to 2007 and film 5, then August 2009 brought us film 6, and last November we went to film 7 on the opening weekend. The need to go as it opens has increased as the girls have got older. But we’ve agreed to wait and see it together. When we got the latest DVD we had a marathon screening of the whole story so we’re bang up to date with the film franchise and raring to go!
Our love affair with the J.K.Rowling chronicles began in 2000. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first novel I read that year, aloud to Eldest, but also to myself as I couldn’t wait! In fact, my exercise book records that I read her the first four books aloud that year, (and also read them to myself). When she wanted me to start again at the beginning I encouraged her to try for herself. She was six. She hasn’t stopped reading since.
As she read more books to herself, Stephen Fry took over reading Harry Potter aloud; the cassette tapes got so worn that CDs replaced them – they remain a popular listen for us all on long car journeys. Youngest has never actually read the novels as she knows them by heart. (She’s trying the first one in Spanish!)
By the time Order of the Phoenix came out in 2003 Eldest had first dibs on reading it and Husband and I had to wait our turn. It arrived in the post on Saturday morning, absorbed her for the day and was finished by bed time. Half Blood Prince went the same way in 2005 and Deathly Hallows in 2007 – in under 4 hours as I recall.
It was a shock to come to the end of the saga, but we’d still got the films to look forward to… Perhaps putting off going to see the last one will be a good thing, and there’ll still be the DVD – presumably in time for Christmas?!
