Can't Girls Wear Green?

Slice of Life Writing Challenge - Day 19 - hosted by Ruth and Stacey at Two Writing Teachers blog.


I rarely take my children grocery shopping with me.  It's just too much to take all four if I don't have to!  It takes twice the amount of time necessary, it creates situations where I have to say no too many times, and it's just no fun for them (or me, most of all!). 

However, once in a while I amend my rule of shopping alone and take one of them with me.  Saturday happened to be the day I broke this rule and took my seven-month-old daughter.  Being St. Patrick's Day, we were both dressed in green.  She had on Daddy's favorite Michigan State outfit.  She was looking awfully cute in her MSU gear, perched in her pink polka-dotted car seat in the shopping cart.  She loved the new things to look at and did a wonderful job of entertaining herself as I shopped.

Then an older woman stopped me so that she could look at my cute little GUY. 

"Oh, he is just so cute!  What a handsome little guy you are."

I smiled, said thank you and walked on.  [just let it go, I thought]

A few aisles later and I am again stopped by an older woman who needed to see my "little bundle." 

"Oh, well, would you just look at this handsome fella?  Isn't he just the cutes little boy you've ever seen Charlie?" she said to her husband.  "Yep, yep, he sure is!" he said.

[just smile and thank them and let it go...AGAIN, I thought]

I finished my shopping as fast as possible (I don't enjoy this process very much).  I begin to head for the check out lines...almost there...almost home free!  And then it happens.  Again.

"Look at those big blue eyes!  What a handsome little man!  Isn't he just precious in his little green Spartan clothes?"

[SERIOUSLY???  Ok, I can do this.  They don't know she's a girl.  I mean, never mind the fact that she's in a car seat that is covered with PINK polka dots.  Ok, she's wearing green and white, not pink or purple.  Just smile and be polite.  You can do this!]

"Thank you," I said and I quickly walked away before the elderly woman could see my rude, yet uncontrollable, eye roll. 

Do I really have to dress my daughter in pink when I go out in public just so people don't call her a boy?  Is it her fault that her cute little head only has a little blond peach fuzz?  Does she have to wear a headband with flowers to be a girl?  Or a dress? 

Sigh.

Maybe I can let it go this time, but next time?  I make no politeness promises.