today my parents and i did some emergency babysitting for a family at our church, 2 boys, 10 and 9, and a girl, 3. i had the idea that we would all make monkey bread, which is a fun dessert to make, takes more time than a cake, tastes really good, and was always popular at the after school program i worked at.
the little girl was the only one that wanted to help make the monkey bread, mostly because the boys were in my dad's model train room, which i will admit is pretty cool, and she, at first, wasn't interested in that. so while we were making it we had this conversation.
LG [little girl]: the girls are cooking and the boys are playing.
me: [thinking] teachable moment! teachable moment! say something that makes her forget stereotypes forever!
LG: [after my prolonged anxiety ridden silence] girls cook and boys play.
me: well, not all the time. there are boys who like cooking too.
LG: and sometimes i play because i'm little.
me: that's right.
LG: but mostly girls cook.
me: well, sometimes, uh, there are, um, well, boys...
LG: i'm just kidding
me: you're just kidding?
LG: i can spell "on". O-N.
and that was it. but it made me think about how i will do things and what i will say when i become a mom. my parents didn't really do anything to debunk male-female stereotypes (but didn't go overboard to support them, either -- although i did get roses on my wallpaper when i asked for trucks) and yet, here i am, a feminist. i wonder if there are parents out there who did work to debunk the stereotypes who now have children who support them. food for thought.
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