Before I had kids I was adamant that I wouldn’t buy into gender stereotypes when it came to play. I was outraged when Pottery Barn Kids was clearly split at holiday time with play kitchens for girls and trains for boys. I found it ridiculous that gift guides were “boy” and “girl” specific.
Clearly I wasn’t going to raise my son to think there were ‘girl’ things and ‘boy’ things.
What I failed to realize was that perhaps society’s imposed gender norms were based on inherent preferences. While there are exceptions a plenty, it was glaringly obvious that my son doesn’t care AT ALL about things that don’t roll, drive, roar or dig. He is a boy who from the time he was a baby has loved all the stereotypical “boy” things despite my attempts to keep our house gender neutral.
Don’t get me wrong, he loves playing (on occasion) in his play kitchen. He will occasionally go on treasure hunts with the girls at school, play make-believe with his stuffed animals or sit down and quietly do arts and crafts, but for the most part my wild child spends his days running around school barefoot, dirty and wearing a superhero cape as he and his buddies “save the day.”
He decidedly loves all things superhero, sports, cars and construction. When we go to the library we leave with at least 20 books about trucks, cars, planes, and trains.
And now that he is a very willful 4-year-old he has opinions on everything from what and how he plays to what he wears. He refuses to wear any shoes other than Natives, he prefers shirts with dinosaurs and trucks on them of which he has hardly any, and he prefers beat up baseball caps to sunglasses. And of course he loves ANYTHING Spiderman which is why he’s obviously going as Spidey for Halloween this year. Which is why whenever I need him to do something he doesn’t want to do I have to think like a superhero.
Doesn’t want to eat his veggies? Well, broccoli is what Spidey uses for energy to spin his webs. Doesn’t want to help clean up, evil villains destroyed the playroom and we need a superhero to save the day and return the toys to their homes safely. Doesn’t want to wear sunglasses to protect his eyes from the hot California sun…obviously we need sunglasses that have superpowers.
We need Pair. Pair sunglasses aren’t just any ordinary sunglasses – they are clearly sunglasses for Superheroes (or at least my son thinks so). He can change out the frame with a sweep of a hand, instantly transforming his magical powers. Currently the orange frame is spiderweb power and the blue and black are water power. He loves playing with them, which means he also loves wearing them. And while he gets to become a superhero, I get to relax a little knowing his eyes aren’t getting fried out in the sun.
They really are super cool. They change out via magnets, and they also come in prescription glasses for kiddos that are blessed with less than 20/20. Not to mention the frames are super cute, high quality and they give a pair of glasses to a kiddo in need for every base pair purchased. I mean, what’s not to love?! My little superhero is a fan, and so am I.
If you want to check out Pair for your little superhero go to Paireyewear.com and use the code ROCKINMAMALIFE for 10% off your order! They launch today and you can check them out in person at Pink Chicken.
*sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
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