The Dinosaur Shirt

A few weeks ago, Beanie and I went shopping for school clothes. She was super excited when she saw this long-sleeved tee shirt. She LOVED it. I made no mention that it was from the boy's section, nothing to that extent at all. When we came home, the Hubby asked if it was for baby boy. I said that, no, Beanie had picked it out for herself.

She showed the shirt to her BFF next door and she seemed to think it was equally cool.

Beanie picked out the dinosaur shirt to wear to school tomorrow. When I asked her what she picked out (because we always pick out school clothes the night before), she told me and commented on how she was so excited and how it was such a cool shirt. It is! So, why is all I can think about the fact that she may (or may not) get teased at school for wearing a boy's dinosaur shirt. I mean, it's sort of ridiculous, right? I want her to know she can wear whatever she damn well pleases (well...to an extent haha). I want her to know that pink isn't for girls (as her brother will attest to as he's wearing Big Sissy's old pink butterfly jammies to bed), and that blue isn't for boys. Colors aren't for one person and not another. They're colors. I want her to know that boys don't have the exclusive choice of dinosaurs, bugs, and rocketships (which, coincidentally, are all things that she loves). I want this freedom for her. We strive to instill these values in her mind.

But....but....but...

She's five. She's already told me about how she was invited to the "girls club" on the playground, and has been talking endlessly about needing a Disney princess book (apparently her princess books aren't fitting the bill right now...I'm hoping that the versions of Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid that I put on hold at the library might ease some of the Disney-specific princess talk). And, hell, I'll probably let her peruse the stupid Disney books and see if there's one she wants to check out.

I want her to feel confident being dinosaur-loving, bug-loving, solar system-obsessed self. I want her to play princesses and know that they're stories and not buy in to the "princesses only do this" crap. I want her to feel bold enough to look anyone in the eye and tell them that "dinosaurs aren't just for boys."

Will she learn all this? Have we prepared her for the cruel world that is pink-obsessed girlhood? What will happen tomorrow? (Anxious mama hopes all my worry is for naught :) )

I worry for my sweet girl. We've worked hard at giving her roots to grow; now she's exploring with her wings to fly.

******

P.S. She totally picked out bright pink pants to wear with said dino shirt. Stylin, no?

******

Oh, and hello, has it seriously been six months since I blogged? Yowza.