and so we've thought about, "Would you buy your son an American girl doll or do you try to find a male equivalent? And I still don't know! There are things like that we hadn't thought of before but now we're starting to think about it.
You can't raise your kids in this gender-less vacuum, and I don't think you should either. There's nothing wrong with him being a boy and knowing he's a boy, and still doing "stereotypical" boy things. That's fine.
P&B: Talk about this book you read [Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue].
Tamara: She talks about this a little too, which really made me think. She tells a story: her daughters never knew pink was a girl color and blue was a boy color; her daughter's favorite color was green. And on the first day of kindergarten, she comes home and says "My favorite color is pink now, because so-and-so told me that girls only like pink." And how like five years of parenting was undone in one day and that is definitely a factor as well...just being comfortable, and being raised by parents who are comfortable. I'm hoping we can have enough of a safe environment that he could express to us his preferences.
Robbie [Tamara's husband]: As far as people saying "Oh, I would love for our son to do this," it's like, to what extent do you encourage, but to what extent do you prod. I didn't want to practice the piano, but I'm glad I did. Where do you draw the line between childish insistence on not accepting responsibilities and wanting to do nothing...?
Tamara: But like, whatever he picks, we can encourage him to do that and support him....If he wants to be an athlete, we won't say "Oh, sorry, we don't do gender stereotypes, you can't play in the dirt with a truck. It's about having an open, and a safe enough environment that he could really choose what he wanted and feel supported.
Tamara and Robbie Olsen with their one-month-old Wesley. The Olsens hope to encourage their son to be whatever he wants, and to allow him to play with those things he likes.
"It's about having an open, and safe enough environment that he could really choose what he wanted and feel supported."
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