Here Comes the Bride!

I woke up and turned on the news this morning just in time to catch the news that Prince William is engaged. Knowing Caroline would be very interested, I called her in to watch the footage with me; we're already very excited for a few months of royal wedding planning. :) Within minutes, Caroline was busy at our kitchen table sketching wedding dresses and peppering me with questions about weddings, both in general and for royalty. It was a 5-star morning for my girlie girl!

Caroline's bridesmaids-to-be....

Have I mentioned here how funny my children are about gender roles? When Caroline was a baby, I made an effort to buy her plenty of gender-neutral toys. I'll be the first to admit that I love a little girl in something pink and feminine, but we are certainly not the kind of family that limits choices based on typical gender roles. Nevertheless, the minute Caroline discovered baby dolls, it was done. At two-and-a-half she tried on her first dress up and she's pretty much been in costume ever since. If it is pink, or has fairies, or involves a glamorous dress, she's interested. William, on the other hand, has had a very different experience. He was literally surrounded by girlie stuff from the moment he entered this house. I have a picture of him just two days after coming home from the hospital wearing a tiara carefully placed by his adoring big sister. And yet he wants nothing to do with anything girlie. I literally can't think of a single time he's tried on a dress-up. He only uses Caroline's doll stroller to ram into things, never to push a doll. Yesterday he was invited to a gymnastics visit day, and he cried the whole way there that "gymnastics is for girls! I don't want to wear a leotard!" Labeling stuff as "for girls" or "for boys" has been a big topic for him lately. Princesses and ballet are for girls. Trucks and balls are for boys. And he definitely knows on which side he wants to be!

Poor little man....

Anyway, I don't really know what my point is, other than I find it interesting and I want to document this funny little time in William's development. To me, it just shows that kids are born who they are, and neither their parenting nor their environment have all that much to do with it. Not that I want to start a political fight on my blog, though! ;)