Boys and Dolls
April 2007
4 CommentsWhen this post was written: First child (D) was 3 yrs, 9 mo. Second child (B) was 2 yrs, 3 mo. Third child (L) was 0 yrs, 5 mo.
Yesterday David and Bethel had a grand time playing with Bethel’s dolls. David was quite pleased that he was able to put an outfit on the baby all by himself. Bethel wanted all the clothes on the other dolly, all at once.
I get a little nervous during these moments. I know there’s nothing wrong with a boy playing with a doll, but I wonder if I should get David some GI Joe men or something (Ken is not an option as we don’t do Barbies at our house). I know there’s something developmental going on, and I don’t discourage it. But I have to be honest that it makes me a tad queasy to see David nursing the dolly. 
As Lee pointed out, David sees his dad dressing and changing the baby on occasion. It’s a good thing. There’s room in our house for another gentle soul. I guess I need wisdom in guiding him along his God-given personality.
Still, I breathe a sigh of relief when David gets back into his rocket preoccupation. Until Bethel informs me that she wants a “rocket pony cake” for her birthday.
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Thanks for visiting my site and for your prayers for my son’s family! I’m adding you to my list of people to visit before I go to bed.
I have a grandson that loves to play dress up…..princess dresses! He’s three so we are trying not to make a big deal out of it AND we’re trying not to get the giggles in front of him when he comes out with a pink princess dress, red hat, white gloves, and brown suede boots. It’s too funny!
Blessings! Q.’
1 Qene' said this (April 5, 2007 at 8:42 pm)
It’s sometimes hard not to laugh! I think sometimes we do draw more attention to something by making a big deal about it. After the kids are in bed… then we can laugh.
Thanks for your comments.
2 Michelle said this (April 5, 2007 at 9:11 pm)
We are a family of all boys, so the only dolls are mine. I have a couple “babies”. The youngest is enamored with other people’s babies, so when he gets one of my dolls, he is so gentle, holding it like a real baby.
Dolls never bothered me, but the boys’ “killing” play usually does. Even if it is the bad guys.
3 Kim said this (January 4, 2012 at 2:02 pm)
I really do think that the family dynamic makes a difference in how strongly we draw the lines of masculine/ feminine. It makes sense that it’s not a big deal in your family.
We are a military family, so we allow killing. I want our boys to understand that defending the helpless can be a violent choice. Even though their dad is a noncombatant, we wouldn’t be in the military if we believed otherwise. In general, when they are pretending, it has to be good killing. (self defense, war, or hunting)
I have stopped the torture of stuffed animals (a bunch of boys stabbing it with play swords), or when the battle gets too emotional. I don’t know how to explain it, but there are times when the killing play reflects an underlying anger. At that point, it doesn’t matter whether the storyline is okay, the anger is not, and I stop the play. (Considering that they have little access to violent television or video games, the extent of their “violence” is pretty tame. If it got more realistic, I’d probably stop it, too.) I’ve been thinking about children role playing “bad guys” or sinful behavior. Maybe I’ll blog on that soon. 
4 Michelle said this (January 5, 2012 at 9:35 am)