At 04:14 PM 1/19/04, Ken Olum wrote:
We are always able to get them some neutral color (navy blue, brown,
black) without robots and such. My opinion (not shared by my
partners, I think) is that with kids too young to make such choices
for themselves it's better to choose something neutral for them than to
choose something with some specific animal or something on it.
Ken
Well, actually the "neutral" shoes Ken is talking about have little soccer balls on them . . . but unobtrusively.
Payless has a "subsidiary" called "Smartfit" which includes wide widths which our children need. There is one double-zipper boot in plain black which is listed on the girls section of the webpage but not on the boys . . .
We have a continuing battle with our mother's helps to keep them from dressing Jocelyn up like a little doll and Perry up like a football player . . . and to keep them from presenting Jocelyn with baby dolls and Perry with trucks.
I've been watching carefully to see if we respond differently to the two when they take a tumble. This is a classic place where parents console the girls and tell the boys not to cry, it wasn't that bad . . . honestly, I don't think we treat them any differently. They really are two very different people, and the differences could certainly be attributed to gender--would be by some. For instance, Jocelyn is very concerned about Perry. She pats his back if he is crying and asks persistently where he is if he is in another room or sleeping. She gives him things, whether he wants them or not. She demands he be included in her activities, like swinging or eating. Perry doesn't do anything similar. Perry loves to throw things HARD. Perry likes building towers, and Jocelyn mostly doesn't. Perry shouts the names of things excitedly at the top of his lungs. Jocelyn is not so noisy. But I am sure these are just differences, NOT gender differences.
When they were tiny, they would start out the night in a bassinet next to my bed. If they cried, I would bring them in with me. By morning, I would be confused about which baby was which, and more than once I got a surprise when I took off the diaper!!
Valerie