All Toys Welcome

The Caveman was getting our kids into bed the other night when I heard him say "Stay in bed and settle down, or I'll take your Barbies away."

There is nothing unusual about this ... apart from the fact that he was standing in the doorway of our sons' room when he said it.

That's right ... one of our boys loves Barbie dolls. A room that has long been the domain of Thomas, Lego, Hot Wheels and various types of sporting gear has now been invaded by a group of small shapely blondes.

I've never been too picky about what our kids play with - if our daughter wants to build something with blocks, or race toy cars in the dirt, we're fine with that. If our boys want to wear dresses, or play with dolls or tea sets, that's fine too. The Caveman and I always figured it was better to not set gender-specific rules for them when it came to toys. It often turns out they will gravitate toward the more stereotypical items as they get older anyway; our boys both love construction and our girl went through the usual "Fairies and Princesses" phase that most girls seem to experience at some point.

So, it didn't bother me at all that our five year old got excited about his big sister culling her Barbie doll collection recently. He sat with her while she sorted through them, working out which ones she was happy to let go of, then patiently letting him choose which ones of those he would like to keep. He took his new responsibility as a doll-owner very seriously - when the sorting was done, they even put the Barbies in a tub and gave them a bath.

I have no idea what he plans to do with his new dolls ... he's going through a pretty strong "Star Wars" stage at the moment, so no doubt he will have them swinging lightsabers and using the Force on each other for weeks to come. On the other hand, he might build them some furniture out of Lego, or even have them riding his dinosaurs.

He is a great doll-owner, from my point of view. Unlike his sister, he isn't interested in all the accessories that go along with them, so I don't have to clean up (or trip over) little bits and pieces that have been left on the floor. The Barbies tend to stay naked too - he doesn't care about putting clothes on them, which is pretty much in line with his attitude toward clothing for himself!

He is such a character. I actually got some sneaky photos of him last week, running around in the back yard, in the mud, playing "Star Wars".  He was dressed in only a pair of undies, with a shower cap on his head and brandishing his toy lightsaber at imaginary figures as he went. It was a joy to watch. I do love seeing how kids get caught up in their own imaginations.

Those photos might come in handy in the future too ...