Saturday, November 1, 2008

You won't like me when I'm angry

Grrrrrr.

Okay, I understand that babies typically look "gender neutral" during the first year, or until they get a little hair. Which basically translates into most babies look like boys. I get it. But next time you start to say something to a parent about their baby, or talk within ear range of the Mommy, take a quick glance at the clothes this child is wearing. As a very general rule:

Pink/Purple = G-I-R-L. Flowers/Hearts/Bows = G-I-R-L.
Blue = B-O-Y. Trucks/Bugs/Dinosaurs = B-O-Y.

Now, I won't go out on a limb and speak for all you parents out there but it really burns me up when time after time I have to hear, "Do you mind if I ask how old your son is?" or "What a cutie! How old is he?" or "Hey Buddy, you're a big fella aren't you?" Yeah, I don't know why any of those things would bother me. Oh wait, yes I do - because I have a little girl! A beautiful, precious, sweet faced, gorgeous baby girl!

It used to bother me in the beginning. Then I developed a brilliant coping technique. I made a point to only dress her in "girly" colors. I put bows and headbands on her head. Although 9 times out of 10 people STILL referred to her masculinity, it stopped bothering me after a while. Today my world unraveled. Within a 10 minute time span three people at the park referred to her as a boy. I handled it with as much grace and dignity as I could muster and very politely said each time, "Well she's a girl, and she's six months old" which was followed each time with "Oh wow! She's so big!" Yep, that's right, my baby is female and large. Thanks for pointing it out in case I hadn't realized what a giant she was.

I picked her up out of that swing and covered her with hugs and kisses and plenty of "You are such a sweet girl and Momma loves you sooooooooo much!" Then we walked home while I phoned Katie and whined. She promised to tell me if she ever thought Avelyn looked like a boy but I'm sure she's not that dumb. Oh well. One day when Avelyn is a super model, super genius, super doctor the world will cry at her stupendousness. Until then the world better watch out, cause this Momma is close to

3 comments:

  1. People are idiots. I'll have Brooklyn completely decked out in pink...pink outfit, pink bow, pink blanket, pink paci and people will still ask how old HE is or say "Well, hello, Mr. Blue Eyes." Why is it always the old ladies???

    Oh, and don't feel bad about them saying she's big. I get, "oh, she's so tiny" with a look of concern like they are about to call CPS on me.

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  2. We got that all the time with Elisa too, but I just thought that it was because she's the only girl in Latin America that didn't have her ears pierced before leaving the hospital. I, too, made extra effort to dress her in pink or purple and put bows in her hair, but to no avail. The only remedy was her hair finally growing. Avelyn totally looks like a girl! Don't sweat it.

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  3. It kills me when people ask me "is it a boy or a girl" when Claire has on a pink headband!!!! Come on now. And a big baby is a sign of a healthy baby...screw em all!

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