Gender differences permeate society. Parenting is no exception. Finding ways to embrace my daughter's gender without letting her be limited by it is a lifelong project. One of my tools is a simple gender-bender: for any given activity, expectation, way of acting or dressing or thinking, switch the gender. If if sounds strange, if dressing a boy in pink or seeing a girl ignore the other children on the playground as she grabs for a sand toy, question if the strangeness is inherent in some sort of sex difference, and if so, how. If not, remind yourself that this gender-based assumption of correct behavior is socially constructed for reasons that benefit someone, and that someone very well might not be your child.
Yesterday's menu:
breakfast: brownies
lunch: potato leek soup leftovers
dinner: bean salad, potato salad, and hot dogs at a picnic in our living room
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