Dear Target

Happy Sunday to all though I am a little post off. Fist my morning was kicked off not by my usual Meditation or Yoga practice but instead by my grandmas home attendant calling to share the news of a sleepless night. Second night in a row my grandmother hasn't slept and has caused the poor home attend to loose sleep as well. Darn you Alzheimer's I can work with the memories and other crazy stuff but Sleep!!! Omg cut me some slack. Your pushing my home attendants away and I need them! Ugh, if anyone has ideas of sleep aids please share. These disease really messes with concept of sleep, rest and time so I need all the help I can get.

So anyway after this call I need to Zen myself more than ever I pack my lounging bag with the new Maxim magazine my hubby Idris Elba is on the cover want to read that, pack my blanket, another book to read "I never promised you a Rose Garden", some lotion and bottle of water grab my sunglasses and keys get ready to close the door behind me when I hear...Thunder! Now I'm in the middle of some passing rain so again I have to change my plans.

illustration by stickemuplabels.com

I remembered a story I heard on the radio Friday so I'll just talk to you about that and lounge at home for now. Seems our favorite store or just maybe mine, Target has a new thing going on where they are removing any specific gender related labels. No Girl's dept, no Boy's toy section, no Girl's bed settings etc... Now I've had enough of all these attempts at being politically correct and wrote them a letter, not really of course just on my blog and this is what I have to say.

Dear Target, first I want to thank you for all the product choices and reasonable prices you offer. Thank you for easy access and a great parking lot which saves me loads of trouble when my hands are full but now you are pissing me off. I like my signs, I like that I know where everything is, I like order. In all my years shopping in your store I have never seen at seven year old or twelve year old shopping by themselves. So who are you making these changes for exactly? Kids don't shop for themselves, we parents do. I am more than capable of moving around your store with great ease and purchasing whatever my child would like from whichever department I need to grab it from.

illustration by bluenationreview.com

I personally don't believe in gender exclusion if my child wants a race car set that's what I'll buy her, if I had a son and he wanted a kitchen set I'd grab that too. But to make large changes to accommodate a few is just "trying" to hard. I think parents are more than capable of going into any dept. and purchasing an item of clothing that fits who their child identifies with. All the throwing things into one melting pot just pushes people away if they at least don't even have the concept of respecting others. Now I may have to deal with a father making a derogatory comment about kids being confused, about not wanting his daughter to be around "that" kind etc.. So why not leave just well enough alone and instead promote a continues comfortable safe shopping experience?

Why not invest the energy in making your staff and your layout welcoming to anyone who decides to enter any where? Hope about installing at least one gender neutral bathroom and a few dressing rooms? I think that would be more reasonable than changing a whole store around. Again like I said earlier, kids aren't shopping parents are. We can read very well and make out own choices.

illustration by soysaucecarnival.blogspot

Give people more credit, something to think about
Sincerely,
a Mom that likes to make her own choices.

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What do you think does changing a store into gender neutral benefit or hinder its chances of you shopping there? Does it invite more respect and acceptance to start removing all gender labels? How comfortable are you with gender labels in the wake of Transgender information being more accessible? Are you more accepting or even more confused? Please share your thoughts, let's talk for a minute.

Always stress free xo.

What it means to Be...

This is one topic I have very strong feelings about but I am always respectful (as best I can be), all my Yoga and Meditation hasn't brought me full circle yet. Which I am totally fine with because to me being passionate about something brings about tons of conversations which can open doors to continuous growth.

My topic is Masculinity and Femininity.

I always keep things equal when it comes to my belief in raising children. I am not a fan of separation of rules or privileges.

The basics are:
females
-grow breasts
-have a vagina
-during puberty begin to menstruate

males
-have a penis
-during puberty go through voice change

After this I drew a blank lol. I mean when we are born unless you SEE the physical difference, how else can you tell?
We all have ten fingers and toes, pair of ears, a nose, a mouth, pair of arms and legs, an ass (yes I said that) and well you get the picture.
Of course you throw in physical built and emotions but in the grand scheme...at birth we are all the same.

So this masculine and feminine thing then comes from what? Teachings, Environment, Nature, Emotions or Thoughts?

Does it make you any less of a male to not play or even like sports? Is a female always suppose to like to play dress up and wear makeup?
Must all males be able to fix things and like a not so well kept room?Are females really always emotional about everything? Is being a male a pass to having more than one person in their life at a time and why are females sluts if they do the same?
Are males really better leaders? Do all females want to have babies?
So many questions, so many ways to answer.

My daughter commented to me the other day in a sharing our day moment about how grateful she was that her father and I raised her in a non gender stereo type box. That she is grateful she has had all the same opportunities that the boys around her have and had. That she appreciates having so may experiences whether it was with choices in her clothing or in her toys or in the sports she played.
That she feels blessed because now at almost nineteen (19) years old her life opportunities are endless.

I have said this many times before...let children be children. Let them explore your daughter playing with those legos can sharpen those skills for her to become a great Architect, and your son playing with her kitchen set can bring forth the next Wolfgang Puck or Emeril.

Stress free parenting!

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