a little girly

The other night I went out to see some live music, something I have done exactly twice in the past two years since lullabies and baby cries have become our soundtrack. This time I saw Girlyman, one of my very favorite bands, who describe themselves as "leading edge three-part-harmony folk-pop." Their harmonies take me to another place, their lyrics are smart, and their energy is both thoughtful and positive. I love everything they've done, but I am especially loving this song these days, and their live performance of it the other night had me practically falling off my seat with excitement. Sam and I like to dance to it in our living room too.

In other girly news, we are really excited about getting this kitchen for Sam for Christmas/Hanukkah. Whenever we go to one of our local playspaces, Sam gravitates towards their play kitchens, and loves opening the cabinets, turning the stove dials, putting play food in pots on the stove, and even feeding baby dolls in their little highchairs. I am not at all excessive about toys in our house (books, maybe); we really have very few compared to other kids. Like with so many other things, I focus on quality over quantity, and I think a play kitchen can have tremendous play value for children who are interested in kitchen activities (honestly it feels like we spend over half our time prepping and eating food together, so it makes sense!). Lately Sam has been carrying a little plastic easter egg over to the (real) stove and "cracking" it on the edge of the frying pan. This would be much safer if he had his own kitchen!

So I've been looking at play kitchens for months now. There are some gorgeous ones that are solid wood and made in USA, but they are quite pricey. Many are plastic and obnoxiously decorated, or worse: battery-operated, and I refuse to buy those despite their lower price. When it came down to finally picking one for the holidays, I enlisted Denis' help to balance all the factors of aesthetic, price, building material, size, manufacture location, and...girliness. Yeah, the girly factor. This one we picked is white (girly), has hearts (girly), and obviously it's a kitchen (duh, girly). Then it was delivered, and we realized that it even has some pink accent coloring (whoa, SO girly).

But so what, right? I have always, ALWAYS, said that I would not put my child in a gender box. Thankfully, my husband's values align with mine. As parents and as individuals, he and I will pursue our own interests and share those with Sam. When it comes to Sam's interests, we'll let him take the lead. For now, as he is getting really serious about imaginative play, we think he's going to love his wooden heart kitchen. I can't wait to see what he cooks up for the babydoll he's getting under the tree too.