CNN article: Boys and Play Kitchens

[brittone2]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/12/04/sex.and.toys.ap/index.html

I thought this might be of interest here as I know there have been conversations in the past about DHs not being supportive of their sons having play kitchens, etc.

[katydid1971]

I have no problem with my son having a play kitchen neither does my husband. I have a problem finding one that isn't too girly. I would love to get the kitchen at my costco right now but it is very pink and most of the wooden kitchens Ihave seen look girly to me. I have made a stove for DS on his wooden Ikea toy chest. I put black contact paper cut into circles on to the top for burners.
Sarah

[brittone2]

I'm with you. I wish more were gender-neutral. DS's first kitchen was a curbside MDF find, and fortunately it was red/white MDF so it was gender neutral.

Several parents here have mentioned in the past that their DH's were not supportive of their sons having any sort of play kitchen, gender neutral or not.

[KBecks]

Nice article. I would love to get the boys a kitchen. I need to find more room in our house if we are going to get a big toy like that though!

[Twoboos]

I don't know why, but this really bugs me. Don't men cook and use the kitchen? So shouldn't it be OK that their DS's use one, too? Sheesh.

A couple of years back one of my cousins freaked when his DS was having a fabulous time playing with DD's doll and stroller. I asked him - didn't you ever push your DS in the stroller??? and was it a problem??

Of course, I only have DDs, so I have no perspective on this subject. :-) I can see the gender-neutral problem though. I certainly didn't want a hot-pink play kitchen in my house, and I have girls...

[Piglet]

Ditto on the gendered kitchen problem! I have been looking high and low for a nice one for my boys, and it seems the plastic Step2-style ones are the most non-girly. Harumph! I could go on a very lengthy rant about the gender of toys - I recently saw a pink FP doctor's kit and a pink Little People airplane! Since when did girls stop playing with anything but pink?

And I agree - men cook. Many of the world's top chefs are men. I assume they use kitchens!

[HIU8]

DS has the little tykes kitchen. It is grey and blue (last years model--not the talking one from this year). It's not girly at all. He loves it and so do all of his friends (also all boys).

[taraalissa]

We have the PBK blue kitchen for DS (3.5) and he loves it. My husband has no problem whatsoever with DS having a kitchen. My MIL on the other hand does not approve. She was visibly annoyed when she first saw it and refuses to play with DS with it when she's over.

Idiot. ;)

[maestramommy]

You know what my DH would say to that? Why can't they make toy garages for kids so I can teach Dora how to change the oil?

[niccig]

DH agreed with the kitchen and after seeing DS play with a doll at a friend's house, he insisted that DS have dolls and a stroller. None of that bothers the IL's, but I think the anatomically correct dolls do.

We have the primary coloured kitchen island made by kidkraft. Nice size and no pink. All the playgroup boys love playing with it.

[tzipora]

The timing on this is pretty funny. I loved the retro kitchen from Costco, but was dubious about the pink, since I'm not much of a pink person and I wanted it to be for both DS and DD. I saw it again this year, and was still ambivalent. As it turns out, DS remembered it and launched a very sweet, enthusiastic, low-key campaign in its favor - the only thing he has really been asking about this year (other than musical instruments, which are a constant theme around here - DH is a musician). Anyhow, when I talked to DH about it, he was totally cool with it, pink and all. He said if the pink was horrendous we could always paint it.

We put it together last night and they got it tonight as a gift from one set of grandparents. I don't think I have ever seen so much enthusiastic play from both of them at the same time. It was so much fun just to watch them (and of course, be fed by them). I do find it amusing that the instigator was DS (though not surprising, since he co-opted DD's pots and pans that she received as a baby gift).

DS also had a doll stroller when he showed interest in one - he loved the ones he saw other toddlers pushing, and even though DH was not sure about that one, I told him he was being silly - after all, if anything, he pushed DS in the stroller more than I did. I told him that if it really bugged him, I'd pop a teddy bear in there instead of a doll. I found a nice navy and blue Pooh Bear stroller, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I also have to agree with the PP who mentioned the pink medical kit and the pink airplane. When we received the TRU circular last year that had the page of entirely pink variations of their toys, I was horrified. What girl lives in a world with pink school buses and pink airplanes? Ick.

[brittone2]

Oddly, my MIL doesn't seem to have an issue w/ the play kitchen (but hates everything else about our parenting LOL ). DH and his brother cook a lot. My SIL (DH's sister) barely knows how to boil water and she's in her mid-30s.

However, one time I mentioned something about DH's grandmother giving DS piano lessons one day (DH and I are both totally unable to read or play music) and MIL was like "little boys do. not. play the piano. Girls do."

Huh?? Gender stereotypes really bother me.

[KBecks]

Oh, men who play the piano are so sexy though! I'm all for boys taking piano.

[pastrygirl]

I don't understand the problem with boys and play kitchens. When I was in culinary school, it was CLEAR that cooking was a man's field. Who's cooking on Iron Chef? Mostly men. So what's the big deal with boys playing with kitchen toys? (My own husband is a great cook, yet has a problem with a play kitchen for our son...)

[brittone2]

KBecks-
let's just say my MIL is a doozy. Really ;)

Apparently she's unfamiliar with the abundance of great classical pianists, composers, etc. that were mostly MEN!!!

How do instruments become gendered, kwim? The woman drives me crazy!

All I know is DS really likes music and is great at identifying things by genre, something I didn't learn to do until I was waaaaay older. He loves music. DH and I are useless, and i'd like him to learn whatever instrument strikes his fancy. But apparently I can't mention a piano and DS's name in the same sentence. What is going to happen? Is he going to be non masculine as a result? I just don't get why it is a concern to other people.

Thankfully DH loves to cook and is supportive of playkitchens (DS and DD are getting a new one to share this Christmas to replace our old one) and DS has always been around that.

[KBecks]

So Beth, (it's Beth,right? I'm embarassed for not knowing for sure, but I'm pretty sure...). What kitchens do you like?

[brittone2]

You are right on the name :) I need to make a siggie line :) I'm terrible about figuring out who some people are without their avatars and or signature lines, which is embarrassing considering how long I've been around here LOL.

DS's for the past 2.5 years has been a curbside find that we spruced up a little. When he was 1, we were going to order a nice Elves and Angels kitchen, but I wanted to wait until after our move. We found the MDF kitchen curbside w/ a free sign right before our move, and it kept DS busy while we packed boxes. We were going to get rid of it after our move, but he loved the thing and it kept going and going.

It is now finally getting pretty rickety, and with DD around, I figure it won't hold up through 3+ years of play on her end. So this year, they are finally getting a new Elves and Angels fridge and kitchen to share as their big, main present. I've gotten to see them locally a few times at a Waldorf school store nearby, so that helped to make the decision easier. It is the kitchen I always wanted to get, so I figured we might as well since both kids can enjoy it for several more years. I'll be sad to see the MDF one go (will probably donate it somewhere) because it gave DS sooooo much play value it wasn't even funny. He has never complained about it one bit. It might end up in his room if he has trouble parting with it, but I'm hoping we'll be able to donate it.