Law Students

Cars and Trucks

By Andrea

When I picked up Becca at daycare today, she grinned at me, but then toddled over to climb aboard a baby-sized truck. The daycare provider said, "Oh, she loves cars and trucks." For whatever reason, this made me really happy.

I don't keep her away from "girl" things - she's still so young that I mostly still think of her as a baby more than a little girl, so I don't expend much energy on it. I do dress her in non-pink most of the time, but whatever, the girl section didn't have a green "Dinosaurs are Dino-Mite" shirt and her pants still have ruffles. She doesn't have a baby doll at home, because that seemed silly so far. She has books, blocks, rings, toy cars, puzzles, and balls. She still likes the remote and my keys, and frequently tries to open a DVD and read it like a book, but fails. But there are dolls and teacups at daycare, and I've seen the three-year old girls try to diaper an ugly naked baby doll. Sometimes I rock Becca's monkey in my arms and say "baby, baby, baby," and she cracks up and tries it too. She likes to stir a real spoon in a real bowl, but sometimes wear the bowl as a hat. She's a kid.

That's all I want her to be. I won't rip toys out of her hand and make her play with a car, but I also don't want to just expect that since boys like Thomas the Tank Engine and girls like Dora or the Disney Princesses, then obviously I should be investing in elaborate Belle pajamas. (Remember when the cool thing about Belle was that she read all the time?) I think the reason I was happy I have a car-loving daughter is simply that it was proof that neither we nor the daycare kept her in a car-free zone just for being a little girl. I'd like to keep that up.

Bonus: Since my last vocab list, we are crediting Becca with "down," "duck," and as a big surprise, "flower." (Well, "wawa," but she's a baby, cut her a break.) Nice work.

Full post as published by Peanut Butter Burrito on April 27, 2009 (boomark / email).