"Your colors are pink and pink."
Here's the thing: I like pink. I do. But HOLY MOLY there's a lot of pink in this house since Hester came on the scene!
When we found out that Hester was going to be a girl (at least at birth), I knew she'd receive some pink things as gifts. However, I didn't realize that 97% of everything she's received would be pink. When the first few gifts arrived, I was pretty amused, like, "Oh look, pink for a girl. Isn't that funny and quaint?" Several more gifts arrived and I grew bewildered, like, "Wow, are people really still doing the pink thing for girls?" Dozens and dozens of presents later, I am confused and uncertain. Somehow it has been decided that pink is the signature color for our baby girl, and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm growing paranoid, too: I wonder how much of this is because Hester's a girl and how much of it is because she's the daughter of lesbians.
All of this leads me to some questions for my readers: Did you receive exclusively blue or pink gifts for your baby? Did you want those colors for your own sweet bundle of joy? Do you give exclusively pink or blue gifts at baby showers?
This inquiring mind wants to know.
When we found out that Hester was going to be a girl (at least at birth), I knew she'd receive some pink things as gifts. However, I didn't realize that 97% of everything she's received would be pink. When the first few gifts arrived, I was pretty amused, like, "Oh look, pink for a girl. Isn't that funny and quaint?" Several more gifts arrived and I grew bewildered, like, "Wow, are people really still doing the pink thing for girls?" Dozens and dozens of presents later, I am confused and uncertain. Somehow it has been decided that pink is the signature color for our baby girl, and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm growing paranoid, too: I wonder how much of this is because Hester's a girl and how much of it is because she's the daughter of lesbians.
All of this leads me to some questions for my readers: Did you receive exclusively blue or pink gifts for your baby? Did you want those colors for your own sweet bundle of joy? Do you give exclusively pink or blue gifts at baby showers?
This inquiring mind wants to know.
Labels: Hester Willa
posted by Clementine at 2:48 PM
9 Comments:
With both of my boys I got SO MUCH blue. I tended to dress them in tie-dye (purples and greens at that) and their crib blanket and "theme" tended towards bright, primary colors.
My sister is now also having a boy and I have refused to buy anything blue except, maybe, blue jeans. I knit a teddy bear and made it a greenish/brown.
It's one thing if the kiddo has chosen a specific color, but to put that on them immediately? Not that it usually works though... ;)
My youngest? His favorite color was pink until he reached kindergarten and was told that it was a "girl color" and no amount of mom logic would sway him. He has, however, been expressing that it's not so bad now, at least for certain things though NOT clothes!
I am staggering along trying to knit a cashmere baby blanket as a gift for a friend who is due in a few months-(yeah I know, cashmere but if not for a brand new baby than who?) and it is handpainted in shades of yellow, really nice tones. I didn't want to have to deal with pink or blue or white at all.
Enjoying getting caught up on your blog.
Hester is so beautiful.
They probably can't find anything that is NOT pink. There is very little choice at the stores. We expressed our dismay at the blue-trucks-and-basketballs themes but there is not much out there that doesn't fall into those categories. Unless it's homemade...
Well, no one knew WHAT to buy, since we didn't find out the sex of the kids until they arrived. We got a lot of green ('cause I said slow down, I can't stand yellow!). Green and white and pale blue, and some yellow. So when Clara was a girl, we got a whack of pink, too. Trust me, it won't matter - it will all have spit-up stains on it sooner or later (lol!)
We've been trying hard to find gender neutral stuff - and it can be so frustrating to go into a store where 95% of the clothing is either super frilly pink or rugged trucks and trains blue. SO frustrating. we're considering not sharing the sex of our kid with our friends (when we find out in a couple of months) until AFTER most of the shower gifts have already arrived. that way, people won't be as tempted to do all pink or all blue - ALL the time.
RED! Like the classic story book 'Red is Best!
Such a vibrant colour and good for any sex! Give a lot of red at showers AND bought a lot of red snowsuits and stuff for my first-boy- and then my second-girl-could wear too!
enjoy the pink while you can-H.W. will grow up quick enough and not only decide what she is going to wear herself, she will also tell her mommas what to where too!
:)Lola
I despise pink and everyone who knew me well enough to know I was pregnant knew this - so pink mostly came from acquaintances and far flung relatives. ALL that pink was promptly hung in the basement closet, tags still on, waiting for future baby showers to re-gift to someone who would appreciate pink (and there are lots of people out there who still want nothing but pink for their girls because they're horrified that their princess might be mistaken for a boy). I adore lavender, yellow, florals that don't have pink as a dominate color, etc. ... and they do make stuff like that and can easily be found in most stores. People just default to pink. What I hate is when I see something cute with a lion or train on it (things my husband adores) and the outfits are just way too masculine to girlify with a ruffle-necked onesie. Why can't girls wear puppies, lions, trains? ... anyway ... I say pack away what you don't like, give it away, re-gift it, and don't feel guilty about it. Most people just enjoy buying and giving a gift and you were able to give them an excuse to do it. In the meantime, dress her the way you want and the smarter and more observant folks will catch on. Good luck!
I think manufacturers do the majority of color choices. You *can* find non-pink/blue stuff, but a lot of times, they really push the colored stuff. Bleh.
But then, *both* my kids like pink best (purple comes in second), so our whole house is pink anyway. And it's never been a favorite of mine. Oh well. We have the opposite problem sometimes: the Boy really loves pink, and he had to get his Pink Pride on to stand up against some of his friends.
By the way, sweetie--I'm thinking of you both and hoping the next month flies by and HW is home with you *soon*.
xo
I try to follow what the parents want in my gifting. If they're going for the crazy blue or pink, fine. Otherwise I try to do neutral stuff that's not particularly pink or blue heavy!
Of course, I also love both of these colors kind of a little too much so I have to watch that I don't get sucked into the pink and blue ferver. ;)
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