Mamas, don't let your daughters grow up without playing with trucks

Margot is equally as infatuated with her pink baby stroller as she is with her brother's Playmobil firetruck. And rightfully so - the cute little firemen, the hose that shoots real water, the siren that flashes and makes noise. I can't think of any cool girl equivalent.

A Barbie car? Um, I don't think so.

Now I can't take full credit for being a pioneer of gender neutral toys in my household. She really has no choice but to play with what we have because it's somewhat ridiculous to purchase toys "just for her" when there are more than plenty of options strewn about my floors at any given second of the day.

Oh those 3rd child woes.

And so, she plays with what she finds, and with an older brother around, that generally means many battery powered things with annoying music from a 1980's Bruce Willis movie that won't turn off courtesy of my in-laws, along with a ton of other trains, planes, and automobiles in many shapes and sizes.

And I have to admit that I can't blame her, as I mentioned to my husband as I watched her happily push around a couple of zoom-zoom cars on our kitchen floors. Labels aside, which by the way, I really do hate: Boy toys are just way more fun than girl toys.

Even though I was always aware of exposing Quinlan to more than just play kitchens and baby dolls, she certainly never had the amount of moving vehicle toys that we inherited once Drew came along.

It's sort of a rite of passage I guess. You have a girl and you open the floodgates to the sea of pink into your living room. And when you have a boy, they figure anything with wheels is fair game.

Granted, it's a little easier these days to find girl-friendly trucks, which when you say that a few times sounds utterly ridiculous.

What exactly does that mean, anyway? Do they have better suspension to save you from getting smacked in the face with your boobs? Do they have real-light make-up mirrors so you can be sure not to over-blush your cheeks?

Usually, it's just the damn color.

But hey, if it means people will buy a truck for a girl because it's pink and has a driver who's wearing a crown and a glitter dress, so be it.

However, if I could do things over again with my first, who has gotten some post-facto exposure, I would have been sure to park plenty of trucks and airplanes at her princess palace.

Regular old fast moving possibly battery operated loud as hell gigantic wheeled put hair on your chest trucks.

I mean, a girl's got to get around. And a horse and carriage is pretty 1892 if you ask me.

Besides, the last time I checked, girls drive cars, planes, heck, even fire engines, none of which are pink. And they're still pretty damn cool.

Comments

[Girls Games]

I would love these the makeover game looks great alot of fun with my girls.

[renamer]

Actually i loved truck when i was kid and i think i can use those for my kids too. Those things never change.

[Boom Trucks]

I've tried to make my girls play with toy trucks. They want none of it.

[mom101]

Your poor fourth child is going to be stuck playing with like the wheels that fell off of those trucks and the cap off the glitter glue. Heh.

Anne, check out the toys from Green Toys. Fabulous in every way, for boys, girls, or their parents.

[Elizabeth]

It's official: we're having a girl! It's funny that you posted this. Just last week we were having a discussion with my 5yo stepson who refuses to accept that girls can be firefighters.

He's 5. Where is he getting this from? (Cough his mom cough)

So our baby, who will be a few weeks old (God-willing) already has a Halloween costume picked out for her: firefighter!

Or ninja. I still haven't completely made up my mind :-)

[mom, again]

I've been kinda surprised at how hard it is to find gender neutral toys anymore. At just how distinct is the seperation of the pink from the blue toys at the store.

When I was a kid in the late 60's and the first time around I was a parent in the mid 80's, gender neutral was IN. It was the thing! Yes, there were baby dolls and Barbie, yes there were hot wheels and tonka trucks. But 'playhouse' type toys were not required to be pink or lavender, rather, the most 'real' colors were attractive. Musical toys came in whatever colors they were (fake plastic wood tone most likely), not in a pink princess version and a blue one.

Let's not mention how hard it can be to find a toy without licensed characters on them!

I was surprised to see that even generic baby toys, stackers and sorters and such, which traditionally were in primary colors, now come in the pink/lavender range as well. Evidently little boys can learn a full rainbow of colors by helping to stack the different colored rings in the stacker, but little girls can only learn about pink, lavender, purple and white.

Hmph!

[beco butterfly]

Little girls love to play with toy kitchens and do household chores when they are young but after they grow up they sure run away from household chores.

[Maria]

My little guy loves his toy kitchen and makes 'coffee' for Mommy all the time. While he spends a lot of time driving his cars around, he stopped dead in his tracks the first time he saw the preview for a Princess Barbie movie. He's intrigued by the dancing princesses. And he would love to have his toenails painted, too. I just love it.

[elz]

My M asked for a "fire truck dolly" for Christmas when she was 2. It took me months to cobble together a doll, fireman outfit, and fire truck. Apparently, toy manufacturers don't think dolls need fireman outfits. But, I made sure it happened. Oh yes I did. I was so proud that she asked for something so original, unexpected, and a perfect merge of gender lines...Of course last Christmas she asked for an American Girl doll. Her favorite color is still orange though!

[Rebecca @ Mommies Time Out]

Cute post. My daughter goes on worm-hunting expeditions in our backyard in her hand-me-down party dresses. With two boys and one girl, I find that buying gender neutral toys and movies maintains the harmony in our house. More cooperative playing = less fighting.

[Karen Chatters]

I've definitely bought C some trucks. I was all tomboy as a child and am completely clueless what to do with these girl toys. However, it seems to be in her DNA as she totally knows what to do with them. I'm keeping the trucks out though, you never know when she'll get tired of the pink.

[Karen (SubMommy)]

I have no idea why some people get in a twist about what their kids play with - Boy has a pink stuffed cat that he LOVES, and Girl plays with his Matchbox cars regularly. In our world - they're all TOYS. If it sparks their imagination, keeps them content & happy (READ: quiet & out of my hair) for longer than five minutes - then it's all good with me.

[Motherhood Uncensored]

We've got some anatomically correct dolls at Cool Mom Picks, Kathleen - they've been a huge hit. And while the kitchens can be annoying, they have some really great wooden ones that are just like ovens and stovetops - no gigantic plastic islands!

Also, I think tool sets are great for both genders as well!

[Kathleen]

I'm with Anne- what "girl" toys are worth getting for a boy? My guy has gotten all of his toys as gifts, and they're either the standards (stackers, sorters) or balls and vehicles. I'm feeling the gender bias.. how to fix it without they (ich) toy kitchen in my tiny home?

[Her Bad Mother]

Yeah. Just TRY to get trucks - or cars, or Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blaster, or the skateboard - out of Emilia's hands. She much prefers that kind of toy to dolls. In fact, I don't think that I've ever seen her actually play with a doll. Other than her dinosaur, and he doesn't really take a binky.

[Jo]

Agree! Funny, I picked up a few cars at the dollar store before a long plane journey when my daughter was about 18 months old and was amazed they quickly became her favorite toys. I don't know why, I just didn't think about getting her any before. Doh.

[Jessica@Team Rasler]

Yes! I think all those vehicles are great fun and hope we'll someday have a girl to inherit them from our son. To Anne, I have a son and he rarely seems to get anything for pretend play besides his train set, so we got him a kitchen, a doll with high chair & stroller, a dollhouse, and now we're starting to get him things like doctor kits. He loves it all. It's sometimes hard to find these things without buying all pink, but we've managed it!

[Motherhood Uncensored]

Anne - I'm always a fan of kitchen/cooking stuff, as well as musical instruments.

And to be blatantly self-promotional, you can find a bunch of options at http://www.coolmompicks.com

:)

[emily]

My kids play with whatever we have and I love it. My favorite photo of my son is of him wearing a tiara, heels, a diaper, and pushing a lawn mower.

All toys are fun for all kids, regardless of color. My boys like makeup and shiny sparkly dress-up clothes as well as trucks and dirt. My girls love playing with cars and worms while they're wearing pink tutus and heels.

It's all good.

[Anne]

Great post. I've been thinking about this subject alot as my son, who is about to turn 1, is just starting to really get into trucks.

For some reason, it seems easier for me to think of traditional boy-toys that girls would like. What is the equivalent for boys? Barbies and princess stuff just doesn't seem like it would have the same kind of crossover appeal.

Does anyone have any suggestions for good gender-neutral toys for my little guy?

[ClumberKim]

My daughter would choose a digger over a doll at least 75% of the time. I had Hot Wheels as a kid, not Barbies, so that's okay with me.

[Kari]

My daughter sooo wants that fire truck. She's 4, she has 3 older brothers, loves her girly princess stuff, & is tough as hell, & I couldn't be happier about it!

[Amelia Sprout]

The fun part about having a husband who was one of two brothers is that there are plenty of trucks to inherit. Not to mention, seeing as she'll be an only child, and this generation is all girls, everyone is getting their truck buying fix with her.

I take great pride in the fact that she likes her princesses as much as her dump truck. Last night I caught her zooming matchbox cars around her toddler bed when she should have been falling asleep.