Pink = GIRL

There is one question that addles this Mommy's brain more than anything right now.

"Is that a boy or a girl?"

Variations of that question include: "What a cute boy!", "How old is he?" "Oh, he's adorable!" and "Is that a girl?"

The reason this gets under my skin SO badly is that, while we've kept the big ticket items like the stroller, swing, and crib bedding gender neutral (so we can get use out of it again in 5 years when we have our next baby), Lily looks anything but neutral when we take her out. She is always wearing dresses or little outfits that are incredibly girly (think pink, hearts, lady bugs, and the like). She is always wrapped in a pink blanket, and there's usually a pink burp cloth or pink pacifier somewhere nearby. Does any of that scream "boy" to you? I didn't think so, but apparently, it does to 90% of the general population.

It's also not a one time thing. Today marked the 5th time in less than a week that someone has asked if she is a boy or girl. The first time, she was wrapped in a hot pink blanket, wearing a onesie underneath that said "Daddy's girl." Granted, the onesie was covered so I can't fault the questioner there, but the pink blanket should have given it away, right? The next several times were at a Chinese restaurant. To break down the scene, Lily was crying and JP was holding her. She was in a yellow dress with white polka dots and pink flowers, and pink shoes with pink flowers. JP was holding a solid pink receiving blanket and had a pink flowered burp cloth on his shoulder. She also had a pink pacifier in her mouth. Apparently, that screams boy?

I'm all for no gender roles, don't get me wrong. If we had a boy and he wanted a doll at some point, or wanted to learn to cook, cool. And when Lily is bigger, she'll play in the dirt with a Tonka dump truck, shoot guns, climb trees, and generally do all the tomboy stuff that I did when I was little. But darn it, she's going to do it in pink shoes and frilly dresses, because SHE IS A GIRL!!!