Princess Lego

This week Sam wants to collect all the new Lego dice games. Leo is still obsessed with Star Wars, but also likes to collect Space Police, Atlantis and Power Miners. And he is practically in tears waiting to get his hands on the brand new, just released Ninjago. Newsflash: There are no female characters in any of these games. No tough girls fighting alongside the men. Not even girls as prizes to be saved or won in battle.

When he was four, Leo was a Disney princess for Halloween. He spent all year collecting jewelry, dresses and mini dolls. (All Disney characters.). For a while the boys at Pre School let him be princess Leia in their games. But he kept telling me the boys were bugging him about all the “girly” stuff. He told them “I have it because I like it”, but he often complained that they just didn’t understand. Then came the day when they wouldn’t let him play anymore. I knew these kids parents, they weren’t narrow-minded, intolerant people, quite the opposite. One boy had two mommies. Yet those boys all knew that Leo’s choices were not acceptable.

So Leo made a choice that worked for him. He wore only “boy” clothes to school and saved the pretty stuff for home. I was sad, I wanted him to feel comfortable exploring the masculine and the feminine. But he’s a little boy who wants to be liked and have friends, so he made a wise choice that didn’t limit his options.

Last October his dad made him a fantastic costume: Lego Darth Vader. Yes, my five year old boy who has never seen a SW movie or cartoon is obsessed with Darth Vader. Whatever the hook is about that guy, he’s swallowed it. But he recently grabbed a pink fluffy hoodie on the way out of target. And last week he asked me why there weren’t any fairy Legos. I said that was a very good question. He said maybe everybody already bought them.