barbie in a fire truck

 growing up, we all played with toys. whether we had a favorite toy, like a barbie or a stuffed bear, toys were very important to us. i remember on my first day of kindergarten, i wanted to bring my favorite toy, which was a yellow stuffed monkey, but naturally, my parents said no. this annoyed my so as any normal kindergartener would, i put it in my backpack anyways. so you could tell toys were very special. i think that toys were not only for fun or for playing with the other kids but they are also a form of comfort. just like so many other things in our life, like our beds, our favorite shoes, and our phones. growing up with a strong-willed sister, i didn't just play with one type of toy. when we were younger, my sister and i would play with each other's toys, she played with legos, i played with barbies, i played with toy instruments, she played with mini-golf. toys didn't really have a gender at my house. they still don't really. my sister wears boy's clothes and i look good in a skirt. it's immaterial, the only thing that matters is that we were happy with ourselves and each other. i think one of the focal points of the industry is gender. girls play with pink and boys play with fire and trucks.

well, who cares anymore?

toy trends aren't a thing anymore. i babysit my two cousins and they exclusively play with cars and barbies. because barbies are more human, more familiar. they are just another form of comfort, and cars add excitement. so that way ken and barbie can have a great time driving around the living room floor and maybe they go shopping, maybe they do some work at home, but after seeing those boys, both under seven, i can see that society is changing for the better, and so are the kids who are part of that gender-based world.