Mini Gym vs. Toddlers in Tutus

In keeping with the theme of the past few posts, I wanted to post my own thoughts… so here goes: I have not read the Cinderella ate my offspring book, and I actually had never heard of it.  I would, however, like to read it.  Being a teacher who spends much of my day in my classroom with elementary aged kids, I’m sort of in a bubble when it comes to what’s going on in the outside world.  Sure, I visit a news website once or twice a day just to see if anything is “breaking” and see who thinks they might be able to fix it, but I don’t have access to a continuous feed of information throughout the day like some other people who have the luxury of taking a break from what they are doing to go and talk to their co-workers about this or that at the water cooler (huge run-on, I know).

Back in December, Maya attended the birthday party of a classmate who had just turned 3.  The theme was a Princess theme and she loved it.  The girls got to dress up as princesses in gowns, and the boys wore knight in shining armor paraphernalia.  Maya had a great time and has since been asking for a princess party for her birthday in March. (Too bad I’ve already booked the party with the magician.)  Ever since the party, and even a couple months before, Maya has shown a lot of interest in skirts, dresses, tutus and ballet attire.  When we get home from school she wants to put on her tutu skirt, or the leotard I got on clearance last year that is about 5 sizes too big for her.  She’s expressing some independence and we are letting her do it if it is safe.  For example, she has to wear pants and sneakers to school, but if she asks to wear her tutu skirt over that, so be it.  The other day she decided she HAD to put on tights, a skirt and her nice shoes before we could go grocery shopping.  Although Maya is very interested in princesses, tutus, etc, I signed her up for a mini-gym class at her preschool instead of the ballet class.  She probably would have chosen ballet over mini-gym, but she’s absolutely loving the gym class, and I love that she is getting to run, jump, tumble, etc.

Like Michelle, when I was little, I would probably have been considered a tomboy.  I was the ONLY girl in my entire town’s Little League baseball league (not team), and I was still better than the majority of the boys.  I even had a shorter haircut (thanks to some MAJOR miscommunication at the hairdresser in second grade), so many of the opposing players didn’t even know I was a girl unless I took my hat off.  As I got older I continued to play whatever sport I was interested in including baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball and soccer.  I remember my mom signed me up for ballet once, and I cried the entire time.  I don’t think I ever went back (Sorry for wasting your money, mom!).

The point is, right now Maya is at the age where she should be exploring different options and trying them out as she likes.  The tutu is certainly less expensive than the ballet class or dance company fees later on.  Right now she gets a kick out of dressing up, and tumbling in her gym class.  Cinderella might be trying to eat my daughter, but I’ll try to keep them away from each other for a little while longer!

More from this series:

• The Princess Culture? Seriously?
• Addressing the STUFF
• The Overt Sexualization of Young Girls or Why My Preschooler Won’t Wear a Bikini

More from Rachel:

• Let the kids have some fun, will ya!
• Who loves you?
• I Double Dare Ya

 

The Princess Culture? Seriously?

We are a Disney Princess family. In the beginning when Ella was first introduced to Disney, namely the princesses, I felt we had a good balance of what I’d like to call 2 categories: Princess and Not Princess. Ella really enjoyed playing with her trainset, reading all types of books (Thomas the Train, Huggle Buggle, etc.) and playing with her Princess Barbies. Lately she’s been very into Disney characters, namely the princesses. Does that mean Cinderella ate my baby? I think not.

It’s our job to support who our children are at any given point and instill in them their morals, values and ethics. I would feel sorry for your child if you tried to push him/her into something they weren’t. It’s like forcing them to play soccer if they really wanted to go to ballet class. One of my best friends has a son is the same age as Ella. He happens to enjoy playing with Barbies (dolls), puts on chapstick/lipgloss, seems halfway interested in playing dress-up, loves to cook with his kitchen, etc. My friend lets him, as she should because he enjoys doing those particular things. Is anyone judging her? Nope.

I think trying to make your child something he/she is not is more damaging than letting them play with a doll that happens to have measurements that you could probably only obtain by getting plastic surgery. It’s up to us, the parents of these young impressionable beings to teach them about what’s real and what’s not. Give them self confidence to be who they are and stop being so anti-“everything”. I’ve heard that Disney is actually talking about doing a bald Barbie for children who are going thru Chemo treatments, etc. I suppose that’s terrible also…How about American Girl dolls? These dolls have real life stories. They’re normal in size. I let Ella play with hers and she loves it. She happens to have Rebecca, the Russian Jew, by the way. Do you really think Ella knows the difference between the American Girl doll with the real life story or the skinny Barbie. Hell no.

We need to stop over analyzing absolutely everything and just let kids be kids. As long as we instill in them morals and do everything in moderation, who cares? Freaking chill out.

More from this series: 

• Addressing the STUFF
• The Overt Sexualization of Young Girls or Why My Preschooler Won’t Wear a Bikini

More from Naomi:

• Water Baby
• Personal Style
• Letting the cats out of the bag

 

Why I Love Etsy and You Should Too

I shop on Etsy a lot.  If I had no self-control, I would shop their more often.  And because I shop there as much as I do, I get a lot of questions from my friends… What is Etsy?  How do you find stuff there?  It is too overwhelming!  So here it is, folks!  My Etsy tutorial.

 So what is Etsy?  It is an online marketplace.  Some stuff is handmade, some is vintage.  It is a place for crafters (did I just make that word up?) and artists and collectors to sell their creations and finds.  Much of it (although, admittedly not all of it…) is amazing.

There is a TON of stuff on Etsy.  There are literally hundreds of thousands of sellers (290,000+ as of February… that was the most recently number I could find) all with items in their shops.  So as I said… there is a TON of stuff on Etsy.

How do I find good stuff?

Sometimes I browse but I rarely buy stuff that way.  Usually I go there looking for something.  For example (some of my best Etsy finds):

When I was decorating Darby’s room, I went straight to Etsy for almost everything.

• Artwork: Adorable sock monkey and rubber ducky pop art.  And my husband joined the fun when he found this artwork of a unicorn riding a bike.
• Something fun to hang over the changing pad: Poms (I chose the colors I wanted)
• Decals for the walls (cheaper than buying more art): Cute modern birdies and a letter D decal (no longer in their shop). I also got to choose all of the colors for these.
• I had the changing pad cover custom made by someone on Etsy (her shop has since closed, apparently).  I also had the crib skirt made in the perfect color (deep purple — not the easier color to find)

I needed a blanket for my Ergo carrier, car seat and stroller so I took to Etsy.  Found a GREAT one (see the photo) by this seller (she’s currently on hiatus but plans to be back).  I wanted a bracelet with Darby’s name on it and found it on Etsy.  It is amazing and super unique!  Holiday cards? Etsy.  Baby gift for someone who just had their third girl — something unique and personalized since they likely already had everything?  Found this adorable lovey on Etsy.

Here are some of my other favorite Etsy finds (although I don’t own most of them… yet…) on my Pinterest board.

So back to the original question… How do I find stuff on Etsy?  Think about how you shop on Amazon (which I find harder to browse than Etsy).  You go looking for something specific and flip through the many different items for sale.  It is the same thing with Etsy with one primary difference (and this is my favorite part)…

Etsy sells unique handmade items that are being sold directly by the person or people who created it.  I emailed back and forth with the woman who made the changing pad cover to come up with something that worked for me… my holiday cards were completely customized… and those weren’t unique experiences! Just about everything is customizable because things are made just for you.  I didn’t have to settle for the mass manufactured stuff that wasn’t *exactly* what I wanted.  THAT is what I love about Etsy!  Oh, and I’ve never had an issue with quality.  It has all been incredible.

When I need something, I go to Etsy first.  If it isn’t there or if it is too expensive (handmade stuff does sometimes cost more… although I usually find it to be worth it), then I go to Amazon or whatever.  My heart belongs to Etsy.

Other posts by Michelle:

• Top 10 Things My Baby Taught me in 2011 (25hoursblog.wordpress.com)
• A Tale of Two Benches (25hoursblog.wordpress.com)
• Darby, Sammie, and Sophie: A love triangle (25hoursblog.wordpress.com)