I Have to Shake My Head

I had to come out of hiding to comment on the latest news to come out of Target (because they are such a news making organization!).

I know I am late to the commenting on this… but the more I read about it and hear about it the more frustrated I become and the more I laugh out loud about the conservative views on this.

I’m sure you have all read that Target is doing away with gendering toys. No more “girls toys” and “boys toys” - it will just be toys (after all, can’t a woman or man play with them?). I think this is great for them to do. Mostly because I feel it will be easier to find things in different colors. I also think that it isn’t really a big deal!

If you think about it, honostly, when was the last time that you actually looked to see if something said “boy” or “girl” on it? When I visit the toy section (which I do quite often with nieces and a nephew) I look in each aisle. I don’t look at the signs. If I’m looking for a Barbie I look for the overwhelming pink that Mattel packages their dolls in. If I want a Hot Wheel I look for the blue. Lately I’ve been looking for Minecraft toys for both my niece and nephew (those are usually green, by the way).

Here’s the thing… those pinks and blues and greens? Those won’t change! Those companies aren’t changing their packaging (and it’s unlikely that they ever will) so you can still visually find what you are looking for. In fact, it will be easier to find things.

For example, a few years ago I was looking for Legos for a present. I had to go down multiple aisles to locate them. Why? Because the Legos were not all side by side but they had blue ones in one aisle and pink/red ones in another. Why the hell were the Legos not next to each other? Problem solved, according to Target that is how they will be placed now.

I watched Fox & Friends’ report on this and I was cracking up. They made it seem that they have no mind of their own and they needed Target to tell them “Republican: THIS IS A BOY TOY!”. They couldn’t make that decision on their own. For one, I have enough brain cells to make the decision as to which toy to buy for a specific person on my own.

Although I don’t have any of my kids yet, the plan is to start trying next year. I hope that anyone who decides to buy toys or other gifts that may be considered “boy” or “girl” make the decision to get my daughter blue things and my son pink or red things. I don’t think it is necessary to start telling kids blue is for boys and pink is for girls.

That said, I believe that children will intrinsically be attracted to certain things (for example, I prefer blue over pink - most of my clothing vary in the blue color spectrum), but they can make that decision when they are older and have an opinion. If I want to buy a baby doll for my 2 year old son, why the hell shouldn’t I and why should Target (or any other person or company) tell me that, no - that is a girls’ toy?

I know this was a bit jumbled, but I had it rolling around my mind and I wanted to express it.

Weekend Review: Where's the Wallet?

I’m a day late and a dollar short… okay a day late, but not the dollar thing – I’ve just always wanted to say that. 

I mentioned that I spent Saturday evening helping at a food pantry to give out food to those in need but I thought I would go ahead and talk about the rest of my weekend, too. 

My mom has wanted to take the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese for a while now and we have ended up being busy every weekend, so early last week I suggested we got this past Saturday. Thomas had been out of town for a few days, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t bail on the kids (especially Jonathan who was so excited about it). 

We had a very interesting start to our trip to CEC. I had purchased Cards Against Humanity online that morning and had forgotten my wallet on the bed. I didn’t realize this until I was picking my mom up. I called Thomas and asked him to bring it downstairs for me in 5 minutes. My mom got in the car and I picked up the kids and exactly 5 minutes after I called him I sent him a text to let him know I was on my way. 

I parked in front of my building and waited. I texted him. I called him. I texted again. No response. Finally I went upstairs. I walk in and everything was like when I left except that he wasn’t on the couch. I went to the bed to get the wallet but I didn’t see it. I called his name but he didn’t respond so I went back down thinking that we crossed each other. He wasn’t in the parking garage or the lobby. I was fuming at this point. I drove back to my parents (2 blocks) and then back towards my house and called him again. No response. I sent a ranty text and then we just left. 

Over the next hour I continued trying to get a hold of him by text and calls. Nothing. I was worried. My stomach was in knots. What if he was hurt? What had happened? A bit over an hour after I called him initially I called the HOA president who lives on the same floor as we do. I asked her if she could go and check on him. She said she would and that she’d call me back. It was probably only a few minutes but it felt like a lifetime before my phone rang. It was Thomas. 

Apparently in the 5 minute time span from when I asked him to bring the wallet down to the time I called/texted him he forgot I had asked this of him. When I had gone back upstairs I didn’t see him because he was in the 2^nd bedroom playing video games. The door to the hallway was closed like when I left so I didn’t think he had gone in there. 

Boys! 

That was basically the most exciting part of my weekend. Unless you count the 25 cent oil based Sharpies we got on Sunday at Office Max. That was good, too.