Fun Fact Friday!!

* I am going on an awaycation for the weekend, yo.  I wish that I could say that I was aglow with the excitement but alas, [I am an ungrateful bitch] I can not.  It will be fun, maybe.  Kinda.  But it will also be a lot of work, early rising, tantrum-ridden-toddler wrangling (in front of family) and trying to sleep while your in-laws are having a loud gathering in the dining room into the wee hours.  There will also be a lot of baseball playing, staying up late, drinking and sleeping [it off] in, while your pregnant wife starts her day by taking your up-at-the-butt-crack-of-dawn-toddler down to the soundproof playroom at 5AM.  For, um, SOME OF US.

* The latest in pregnancy cravings has been good bread spread with hummus and olive tapenade.

* If I can get it, I am going to try to record TLNG singing The WonderPets theme song because, OMG. Teh Cuteness will kill you.  Goooooo WONDERPETS!

* We're gearing up here for The Second Birthday Party.  I am trying to prepare myself for the onslaught of 'girly-girl' gifts that are going to make their way into my house.  The Man's family is rife with Girly-Girls (not that there's anything wrong with that) and they are already asking me what TLNG likes.  When I say, 'Sesame Street, The Wonder Pets, The Muppets' the response is thusly: 'Does she like anything girly?' To which I mumble the reply: 'mylittleponiesandhellokitty.'  I know that they all think I'm azy-cray for not being girly enough to embrace it all but what am I supposed to do? Live in Cringeville?

* I had a shopping tragedy the other day when I went to buy my good bread and olive tapenade.  When I got home and got ready for lunch, I found that the olive tapenade was, uh, not-so-much olive tapenade as Olive and Fig Tapenade, which, first--EW--and second OMFGNO! NOOOO!  Not only did it ruin my lunch, it was fucking FIVE DOLLARS worth of ruin.  Tragedy.

* I put on a 'My Little Pony' movie for my kid, thinking she might enjoy it and OMG. Just. GAWD. I'm not kidding when I say that it was SERIOUSLY all about getting your hair done and getting pretty and having a party for a fucking princess.  NOT KIDDING.  That was IT.  There was an actual musical number about Inner AND Outer Beauty--WHILE THEY WERE GIVING A MAKEOVER.  I think that there was going to be some kind of message about it not always being so fabulous to be a princess (b/c they have to CHANGE and not have FRIENDS and all) but I...I just couldn't make it that far.

* My MIL (bless her) bought TLNG a bag full of clothes that she bought on sale.  I laughed because there were 3 (three) Elmo outfits.  And one dress with The Princesses on it. I appreciate her [coming over to the dark side] efforts to buy what my kid likes and I totally understand that she's gotta try to get a little Princess Action in there.

* The Littlest New Girl and I were walking through Ross or TJ Maxx when she shouted out, 'I 'unna see MING MING!'  I look behind me to see an outfit with Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming too (heh) on the (bright orange) shirt (with navy shorts).  In the boy's section.  She wanted it and so I bought it. [We're already cross-dressing.]  I am going to put her in it for our ride to the shore.  I'm wondering if it will give the in-laws enough time to organize their [Pink] Intervention before The Party.

Happy Long weekend!!

Comments

[Mom101]

Skip My Little Pony and go right to Care Bears. Yes you will want to hit yourself over the head with a pointy shoe for the entire duration, but there's nothing about hairstyles in there at all so far as I can tell.

[mimi]

Oh, can we do a YouTube duet of Munchkin and TLNG? "WHAT'S GONNA WORK? TEAAAAMMMM WORK!" We're all wonderpets theme all the time over here. Also, the my little ponies. As long as you keep them away from the godawful narratives, the toys are maybe not so bad. Maybe.

Um, tapenade. Salty and fatty. My favorite!

[The Domestic Goddess]

Try having a boy who like pink.

Not. Ever. Gonna. Happen.

[Swistle]

I have this itch to try to CONVERT YOU to the joys of pink. Oooooooo, pretty!

I totally agree on the girl clothing selection having only princesses and Hannah Montana and NO DINOSAURS. And can I get a boyish shirt with cutesy big-eyed animals? GEEZUS.

[Manic Mommy]

I always thought of Elmo as being gender neutral. I just plain don't like my kids' clothes littered with little marketing campaigns. A shirt here or there but head to toe ads? Not a fan.

Yesterday was preschool graduation. All the girls were in beautiful sundresses. The best I could do was new Polo shirts and Keenes.

["Other" Amanda]

As to people who think girls prefer pink - they only "prefer" it because they are told that they should. (Of course some girls will like pink naturally - but all??)

I mean, I liked "hot" pink (born in '82), but I also liked "electric" blue, "toxic" green, and all host of other neon colors. I played with Barbie, but I also loved to roller skate and play football in the street. I was *told* to like pink, but I have a defying nature, so my favorite color was always blue. My mom once told me she would make me wear dresses to school every day and I CRIED. Cried. (She relented.)

As an adult? My favorite color is still blue, I don't care much for football (but give me soccer any day), and I'm trying out for the local roller derby team this summer. I also like to wear dresses sometimes and do want to have kids one day (just not right now). I even married a guy! Some childhood preferences (*gasp!*) develop into adulthood preferences. If we just force a bunch of girlie-girl (read: lacking substance) crap on baby girls and toddlers, what the hell is that supposed to develop into?

I wish adults would stop foisting boy/girl preferences on children. Give them a little of everything (or gender neutral stuff); let them grow and decide what they like. I also HATE parents/family/friends who INSIST on buying kids (really little ones, especially) things that their parents have expressly said they don't want. This will be an ISSUE when I have kids and I DREAD it. I'm considering writing a well-researched and works-cited response to the "well, what's the harm in _______?" or "Boys don't play with _______!" that I will likely get.

Anyway, I'll stop hijacking your comments, lady. Good luck with the awaycation - hopefully SOMEBODY else will help a sistah out with the "taking care of our offspring" responsibilities.

[Shannon]

My Little Ponies videos are seriously the worst fucking shows EVER. My sister buys the videos and books for my daughter and while I'm not opposed to princess-y girly stuff, I just can't stand how completely and utterly pointless MLP are. Hate!

[Amanda]

I would so NOT take my toddler to the soundproof playroom in the mornings. They shouldn't be up until all hours carrying on when she's trying to sleep. I'd call it a toddler's revenge. I'm also a mean bitch like that.

So glad I have boys on the clothes front. My only complaint is that there's just a bit too much cammo lately. We're an Army family, so we see plenty on a daily basis.

[Motherhood Uncensored]

What? They can't buy her Abby Cadaby? LOL. (Even though I know she loves the Elmo...).

[Don Mills Diva]

Who mixes olives and figs?! That's heresy!

[A New Duck]

You may find the following interesting:
1. I wanted a girl baby so bad I thought I would die if I didn't get one. Before my sonogram, I kept telling people that if it was a boy I was sending it back. (Cause, you know, I saved the receipt.)
2. About 50% of that desire? Was based solely on the anticipated joy of dressing my chica up in girly clothes.
3. Now that I have my gorgeous little chica? I dress her in boy clothes. Constantly.
4. But when people say, "He's so cute! What's his name?" (which happens like ten times a day) I get really pissed.
5. I once had a lesbian friend who did everything she could to make herself look exactly like a man. But when people would mistake her for a guy, she'd get mad.
6. Does this make any sense? No.
7. Does this comment have a point? I think it did but now I'm watching House and have gotten distracted. Oh my god, there's a rupture! And Cuddy has cleavage! I gotta go.

[Secret Mom Thoughts]

I love that she will wear her Wonderpets gear to see the inlaws. My daughter was often in Elmo and I could tell it totally bugged them that she isn't all princessified.

[The New Girl]

Ahaaa HA HA HA, Lor: You LINKED!! I love it! It's at The ULTIMATE House. Down the shore.

Erica and -R-: Although I eschewed anything frilly or ruffly, I did like the pink for the infant girl, (and even when I put her in it, people STILL asked how old he was) but it's the LACK of ANYTHING BUT the Princesses and shit that KILLS me about the girl stuff. I mean, yeah, okay--cool, but canna girl get a dinosaur? Or a Car? Even if it IS SALLY CARRARA??

[Lori]

omg where do I start. I love love love that she discovered wonderpets when I was there, not that it had anything to do with me but still. The whole post is so smack-ass funny. Where's the vacation?

[Erica]

My girl loves her some dinosaurs and I cannot find dinosaur t-shirts in the girl's section in ANY STORE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. So, my kid totally cross-dresses, too. I understand that little girls usually do prefer pink and princessy, but it's not 100% of little girls 100% of the time. It's ok for girls to like trucks and dinosaurs and Elmo and Thomas the Tank Engine.

[magpie]

I secretly love the WonderPets. It's opera, I tell you. Opera.

[-R-]

My in-laws are like that too. My mother-in-law has told me SO MANY times that she wishes I had had a girl so that the MIL could have purchased all kinds of specific pink things. I do not even like pink, but whatever. I had a boy.

Enough about me - 2nd birthday party! Yay! You are right; TLNG did look so little in that old post.

[Amelia Sprout]

Ok, so I just have to ask. Pink for the hairless child aside, why do they insist on genderifying (I know, not a word) kids that are so young? Seriously, when did Sesame street become a boy thing (I assume not girly is boyey).
And though it is a dead horse, could they maybe make little girls shorts a decent length for playing in? Girls don't need skinned thighs to go with the skinned knees.