I'm Irritated, WWML Do?

[jayded]

This weekend my older brother came to visit, my ds (3yrs) adores him. Ds likes all things Peter Pan and H had just purchased a Peter Pan stuffed doll. As ds was playing with the"doll" I overheard my brother making comments to him such as "boys don't play with dolls",and" you're going to be called Peter Pan and that's not a good thing" ect. Ds being 3 continued to play with his toy and didn't seem to be affected. I interjected after the second comment and informed him that ds is allowed to play with a variety of toys and that H and I are fine with buying ds toys regardless of what gender they are intended for. I'm sad that my own family is stuck in the thought that boys should only play with boy toys and that my brother said these things to ds. How else could I have handled this? My extended family seems to think that it's fine for girls to play with "boy" toys but it is unacceptable for boys to play with "girl" toys. It's almost like they think it harms their masculinity. I don't want ds to feel embarrassed in the future if he happens to have a "girl" toy around them. 

[snipsnsnails]

You handled it fine. You won't change your brother, so just play offense with your kiddo in letting him have a variety of toys to play with at home.

[hisno1girl]

I think you handled it just fine.

Just don't be surprised if his little friends say stuff about him playing with dolls, because kids will say anything

[luvvy]

That is so sad and it makes me angry. DS likes playing with toy kitchens and dolls and shopping carts. Tell your family he is learning life skills.

Or just punch them in the kidney.

[papie]

You did great.

[jayded]

How old is your brother?
He's 35

[ohiowan]

Peter Pan is a boy though, duh brother. Boy = boy's toy.

Is there a nice way to tell your family that you're not raising your son to be a homophobic douchebag regulated by gender stereotypes?

[eb777888]

Ugh. I get this shit all the time. David's at an age now where I can tell him not to let anyone tell him he can't play with/wear something because it's pink, for girls, etc. This infuriates me and having a boy who loves playing with dolls and who's favorite color is pink, he gets a lot of shit for it.

[angelaa73]

Sounds good to me! Your brother is an ahole. Kids can play with whatever toys pique their interest. Gender isn't even set until 7ish per my pedi. So your bro can kiss our collective ass!

[jayded]

Sept 30, 2013 21:49:28 GMT -5 angelaa73 said:

Sounds good to me! Your brother is an ahole. Kids can play with whatever toys pique their interest. Gender isn't even set until 7ish per my pedi. So your bro can kiss our collective ass!

Thanks, I'll have to remember that tidbit for his next visit. :-)

[Gato]

I think you did great. If he says something like that again, I might privately tell him to keep his opinions to himself around DS.

[polka]

I think you handled it well. Hopefully, you won't have to deal with that again from him.

[sonrisa]

Your brother sucks.

"He's three. Give it a rest. The only one picking on him is you."

[badgerwrangler]

My son is dressing up as Peter Pan for Halloween and my dad that was "right on the edge" of what is acceptable. WTF are you talking about? DS is also three and loves Peter Pan. DS originally wanted to be a mermaid (which I thought was adorable) so I told my dad it could have been worse, lol.