In the pink

Hasty post! Been incredibly busy!

I have so many beautiful baby blankets that were lovely gifts for Theo. That's what happens when you have a baby in winter. Fleece, cotton, wool, knit, quilted, handmade, patterned, solid, characters, fancy, everyday, light, heavy, small, large, blue, green, yellow, even pink accents, all adorable and useful.

Yet I know deep down that the blue ones, as much as I love them, will stay home. I have a blue one with clouds, obviously has nothing to do with the gender of a child, it's a lovely sky scene. But I know, I can't bring my new baby out and and about in it.

My neutral ones are great, but let's get real - I need full-on pink blankets. I don't want to spend every moment I'm out and about explaining to people that it's a girl. From a certain perspective, it's a waste of money, it's lame, it doesn't make sense. But deep down it's the same thing as putting Theo in tiny button down shirts and cargo pants, before he could even roll over. It's all part of the process of accepting each one's gender role for the moment, until they are old enough to find their own way.

I may have to wrap her in (some) pink, but I keep reminding myself that Theo had his share of railroad prints and dinosaur jammies. As soon as he was able to choose (even before he could talk perfectly), it became clear that he wasn't entrenched in blue and boyish. I had no problem allowing him a "girl" lunchbox (which isn't even girly), "girl" sunglasses (which are sparkle rainbow, which, duh, is pretty rad) and "girl" TV shows, all of which is drowned by a sea of "boy" choices, like trains and cars and sports. When my girl gets old enough to choose, who knows what she'll want, but whatever it is it'll be fine. A few pink blankets, bows, and heart prints won't keep her trapped in a frilly box forever.