When I was a little girl my barbies always made Ken be the butler and ..er... ran around *cough* together... *cough*

So after seeing me do this a couple of times my parents quit buying me Barbies as they no longer felt they were healthy for me... instead they bought me LEGO's! Oh, and after lots of begging they bought me Ninja Turtles- much more fun then dressing up a stupid doll.

Really I'm not sure what to think of Barbie. Will I allow my little girl to play with one? Probably. But I am aware of the possible effects on her so I suppose I'd observe her play in the same way my parents observed mine...

But really is it any worse the way we give them baby dolls so they can grow up to be stay at home mothers and guns for our boys so they can grow up to be soldiers? I'll concentrate on LEGO's, art supplies, and books for my kids I think.

(PS, don't misinterpret this, I have NO problem with stay at home moms- I want to be one myself. I have no problems with our soldiers- I respect them and their sacrifices entirely. My point is, should we push our kids this way from the very beginning?)