Another reason I'm glad I'm not fundie
I was at the park once and met another mom with a son the same age as mine. The boys hit it off and played happily together. She had three kids. The two oldest were biological a boy and a girl, and my son's new friend was adopted from Africa. The older ones went to a private Christian school, and her son was a preschooler. At one point she applied sun block to her bio kids then said the other boy didn't need sunblock since he was black. I thought that was strange. While he would not burn easily he still could burn, and get skin cancer. That was WTF #1.
We were talking about preschools, and asked me where mine went. I told her how much we liked where ours went. She started ranting about the preschool her son went to because they did so many crafts and crafts were not appropriate for boys. She kept bringing it up. She was totally against boys doing crafts. I was so surprised I couldn't think of anything to say. Like, "carpentry is pretty much crafting for adults."
Anyway, I have four kids. Three girls and a son. Of all my kids, my son is the one who likes to sit and do crafts with me. I spent the evening making ornaments with him. He made this Pikachu by himself.
The others pout and sulk. My 15 year old insists she sucks at any art and does the bare minimum. My eldest is pretty talented at art but does not want to do it with ME. My ten year old sometimes humors me, but sneaks away any chance she gets. She would rather play soccer, or sing loudly off tune, she never stops moving and she is loud and boisterous and clumsy. She pretty much only wears sweat pants. My eldest despises cooking and any 'home arts' preferring real art and design. She also has what my husband calls a 'salty personality'. My 15 year old is my girly girl. She likes to dress nice, does her hair and makeup every day, and for the most part has a cheerful demeanor. But still hates crafty things, and is good at math.
My family would be miserable if we had to adhere to strict fundie gender roles.
Every now and then when creating stuff with my son I think of that little boy at the park and wonder if he is allowed to be himself.
- 12
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