Anonymous wrote:This stemmed from a family member asking what age would be best for my daughters first Barbie. I realized I have no intention of introducing that toy to her. Any others that you will refrain from? Or if you are doing Barbie, good reason why?

What are your issues with Barbie, OP? My daughters love Barbie, they don't care what her body looks like. They've watched the recent (past 5-6 years) Barbie tv shows, the messages are awesome, they have a ton of Barbies and play hard with them. I will never understand you "my child will never play with Barbie because she has big boobs" mothers.

DH and I are well educated, I am a feminist and the child of a feminist, we're fine with Barbies. Our children enjoy them, we've seen absolutely no negative behaviors or body image issues. My oldest is 13, she still plays with her younger sisters. It's lovely.

No one’s kids had LOL dolls? My youngest loved the LOL dolls and the doll houses. She did a lot of imaginative play with them.

Anonymous wrote:No guns. My family is military and has no issue with it; guns aren’t toys.

Do you have real guns in your house?

Boomer here.
Indian Chief headdresses, American Indian costumes, toy tomahawks, playing Cowboys & Indians, cap pistols, BB guns.

Anonymous wrote:Ahh. There was just some stuff that is not nearly as available now than when I was a kid - I can't remember the last time I saw a cap gun in a store yet I had several as a kid.

But, super soakers and nerf guns were all the rage with the DS and his buddies. No problem there.

Didn't get stuck on American girls dolls or Barbies for my DD either. She had several, but it wasn't a huge deal for her or was she obsessed about them.

Super soakers promote gun violence.

I've given up trying to control toys. The grandparents/aunts/uncles give stuff and the kid is going to pick what he's into.

Ahh. There was just some stuff that is not nearly as available now than when I was a kid - I can't remember the last time I saw a cap gun in a store yet I had several as a kid.

But, super soakers and nerf guns were all the rage with the DS and his buddies. No problem there.

Didn't get stuck on American girls dolls or Barbies for my DD either. She had several, but it wasn't a huge deal for her or was she obsessed about them.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, man, I LOVED my Barbies. One of my favorites I called “Barbara” and dressed her in a modest dress my grandmother sewed. I pretended she was a librarian and she went out to each at French restaurants.

—bookworm English major

You sound like my daughter! Love it!!

Anonymous wrote:Oh, man, I LOVED my Barbies. One of my favorites I called “Barbara” and dressed her in a modest dress my grandmother sewed. I pretended she was a librarian and she went out to each at French restaurants.

—bookworm English major

I LOVE THIS

Anonymous wrote:I refused to host a laser tag party but my son attended them. For me it was enough that he knew I would not host one. Do I think they turn kids into mass shooters, no but I do think there are literally millions of other ways to have fun.

Funny my kids went to one but didn't like it because it made the anxious but I wouldn't ban it if they did

Anonymous wrote:I don’t try to police anything and actively go with what my kids want. My youngest dd is obsessed with dinosaurs and only wears Dino clothes, including dresses, pjs and bathing suits. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but who cares? She’s Dinomite just the way she is.

I remember my oldest DD had so many negative comments about how girly she was, as if being girly is less than being a tomboy.

NP. This is how I feel about people saying you should avoid Barbies or Disney princesses for girls. If your son liked Disney princesses and you would support that, then you shouldn't have an issue with your daughter doing the same. I have three DDs and they were exposed to the same types of toys and liked different things. That's their choice to make. They're all now teens and let me chime in with PPs that this is one of those parenting choices that's pointless.

I loved Barbies and played with them everyday as a kid. Not one time did I think anything about her body type, just like I never thought about my brother's He-man or GI Joe being unattainable for men.

Anonymous wrote:I avoided the Disney princesses but now my kids are teens and I do not think it would have mattered.

same & barbies- and it was a pointless exercise.

I have kids who just aren’t into sports, so they’ve never owned a baseball bat or a football helmet or a basketball hoop or a tennis racket.

Anonymous wrote:Toy guns, but it didn’t matter. Around 3.5 everything became a gun: sticks, shoe horn, ruler, LEGO, etc.

I don't let my son play with toy guns but it's because we own real guns and don't want him mistaking a real gun for a toy

Kids are themselves. My favorite toys growing up were my baby dolls. My two DD’s were disinterested. One loved Barbjes and the other one loved big intricate Lego sets. The Barbie one didn’t care about Lego’s at all and vice versa. Both had the same exposures to toys.