DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: We have five grandchildren, two from one of our sons, and three from our daughter. We can buy anything reasonable for our son’s kids, but our daughter has forbidden us from buying any gender-specific toys for her girl and two boys. They’re only little kids, the oldest is five, and when they visit with their cousins or come to our house, they play with all different toys. It upsets our daughter because she says it will warp children to be around girl toys and boy toys.
Seems our own kids grew up just fine with gender-specific toys. How do we convince our daughter that there’s nothing wrong with the age-old practice? --- TRADITIONAL GRANDMA AND GRANDPA
DEAR TRADITIONAL GRANDMA AND GRANDPA: You may not agree with your daughter’s ideas, but she is the parent, and so long as her beliefs and policies don’t directly threaten the health and safety of your grandchildren, you need to respect her wishes.
Personally, my experience has been kids get the most out of toys when they have the freedom to choose what they want to play with — again, so long as safety comes first.