"Girl things" for boys - nail polish on a toddler boy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

So, you're raising kids to be the bullies, and you think OP is the bad parent?

You do know that in the end, the bullies are the ones who end up miserable? You don't love your kids enough to prevent that. That's really sad.

Not at all. I would never encourage them to make comments about someone else. In fact, my son actually came home saying that one of his buddies had painted nails. I said, "Oh gotcha! It sounds like that in his family boys paint their nails sometimes. In our family, just the girls paint nails. You ready to go get in the car?"

There are realities to life, and biological and cultural differences between boys and girls. I'm sorry you are fighting that every step of the way, and overcomplicating simple concepts for your very young children as a result. You don't love YOUR kids enough, it sounds like.

I agree with your approach. Once they hit preschool age you have to redirect their focus and wean them off the accessories and clothing that is girly for their own good. My boy also liked to do what OP's son does and we let him do that stuff when he was a toddler, but only at home. Stuff like wearing his sister's barrettes and bracelets. The first time we said "that's better for girls like your sister. how about this instead for boys like you?" he was a little confused but eventually got used to it. Now he is a big kid who has no interest in that stuff. It's for the best.

If he was a 16 year old boy choosing for himself to wear black nail polish and clip on earrings as a fashion statement, that's a totally different situation. A teen has so much more agency than a little kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

So, you're raising kids to be the bullies, and you think OP is the bad parent?

You do know that in the end, the bullies are the ones who end up miserable? You don't love your kids enough to prevent that. That's really sad.

You are clearly a child and not a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

You do realize that you are the parent setting children up to be bullied because we dont care but you do and say its only for girls and your kids take that and run with it....also just a hint here, kids pick on kids because they learn from other kids or adults and they will pick until they find something. their last name. a fat mom. a handicapped Dad. being poor. wearing glasses. fuc$$ed up teeth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

How so? I always let my son wear whatever he wanted, nail polish and princess costumes included, when he was little and it ended fine. He grew out of it before kindergarten and was never bullied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

How so? I always let my son wear whatever he wanted, nail polish and princess costumes included, when he was little and it ended fine. He grew out of it before kindergarten and was never bullied.

There's a spectrum. On one end is a total ban on cross dressing from they day he's born and on the other there's parents goading their elementary school aged boys to wear glittery bows and matching nail polish at school. Somewhere in the middle is a reasonable approach that allows little kids to experiment and play pretend without restriction with an understanding that at some point it needs to be confined to the home and not put on display for the public.

When my son was 2, I let him take a baby doll out and about in a little doll stroller. He did it with his older sister and it was fine. By 4 we kept that kind of play at home. By 6, he lost interest. Kids understand that if mom and dad restrict certain activities to home-only, it means the activities are not widely socially acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Does this little boy have a male roll model at home?

Hard to imagine that many men who want their preschool sons to be wearing nail polish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

How so? I always let my son wear whatever he wanted, nail polish and princess costumes included, when he was little and it ended fine. He grew out of it before kindergarten and was never bullied.

There's a spectrum. On one end is a total ban on cross dressing from they day he's born and on the other there's parents goading their elementary school aged boys to wear glittery bows and matching nail polish at school. Somewhere in the middle is a reasonable approach that allows little kids to experiment and play pretend without restriction with an understanding that at some point it needs to be confined to the home and not put on display for the public.

When my son was 2, I let him take a baby doll out and about in a little doll stroller. He did it with his older sister and it was fine. By 4 we kept that kind of play at home. By 6, he lost interest. Kids understand that if mom and dad restrict certain activities to home-only, it means the activities are not widely socially acceptable.

So you never let your husband push the kids in a stroller either then, right?

God forbid you put that on display for the public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woke signaling aside -- which this is by the way, conscious or not -- this always ends poorly.

You say you can't believe someone would give a three year old a hard time about something as silly as nail polish.

I say I can't believe a parent would set their child up for bullying or embarrassment over something as silly as nail polish.

I wear nail polish sometimes and my young two sons ask about it. I respond, "Nail polish is for girls. Are y'all ready for your snack?" Case closed.

I agree their interest in it is purely innocent, but because I love and care about them, I wouldn't open them up to ridicule.

How so? I always let my son wear whatever he wanted, nail polish and princess costumes included, when he was little and it ended fine. He grew out of it before kindergarten and was never bullied.

There's a spectrum. On one end is a total ban on cross dressing from they day he's born and on the other there's parents goading their elementary school aged boys to wear glittery bows and matching nail polish at school. Somewhere in the middle is a reasonable approach that allows little kids to experiment and play pretend without restriction with an understanding that at some point it needs to be confined to the home and not put on display for the public.

When my son was 2, I let him take a baby doll out and about in a little doll stroller. He did it with his older sister and it was fine. By 4 we kept that kind of play at home. By 6, he lost interest. Kids understand that if mom and dad restrict certain activities to home-only, it means the activities are not widely socially acceptable.

Hmm, nope. Never did that and things turned out fine. Son was allowed to wear whatever weather appropriate outfit he wanted and do any safe activities he wanted outside the home. It didn’t end poorly.

[Anonymous]

OP, would you be attracted to your husband if he wore colorful nail polish in public?

[Anonymous]

Cannot believe we are having this thread in 2023. I need to leave DCUM, this is too depressing.
How about: “in our family we think it’s silly to enforce pretend rules about things boys can do that girls can’t, and vice versa. However other people have strong feelings that boys should act a certain way, and might say things that seem confusing or unkind if you do. You get to decide what color your nails are, and you can change your mind anytime because it’s nail polish and you’re a preschooler and it’ll be gone by lunch time anyway” or maybe not the end part but guuuuuyyyyyyss do we still really feel like there is some biological imperative related to people with vaginas that is related to nail varnish???

[Anonymous]

In our culture, nail polish is for women.
You should travel to Africa and check out their cultural norms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, would you be attracted to your husband if he wore colorful nail polish in public?

Good question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, would you be attracted to your husband if he wore colorful nail polish in public?

Good question.

What about if he wears Velcro shoes and still occasionally pisses on himself?
Quit sexualizing the behaviors of young children. It’s paint on fingernails. Some of you all are really gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, would you be attracted to your husband if he wore colorful nail polish in public?

Good question.

What about if he wears Velcro shoes and still occasionally pisses on himself?
Quit sexualizing the behaviors of young children. It’s paint on fingernails. Some of you all are really gross.

OP here, +100 to this reply, I came here to say that but I'm less funny. Let's wait until at least 5 or 6 to start looking for mates? (Don't get me started on skimpy baiting suits for baby girls.. we'll be here all day).

Did someone really just say they won't let their kid push a stroller outside of the house? WTFFFFFF That's so much sadder than the nail polish debate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Does this little boy have a male roll model at home?

Hard to imagine that many men who want their preschool sons to be wearing nail polish.

There's a difference between "want" and "don't have a strong opinion about." "Want" seems strange. "Don't have a strong opinion about" seems regular.

Role* (sorry couldn't help it)