Nat'l Review: "Boys using Easy-Bake ovens" were the problem at Sandy Hook.

[Glassunion]

57. Holy crap...

WTF?

My wife considers me to be manly, but I'm far from aggressive unless motivated.

I played with easy bake ovens. But this did not train me to be nice. It trained me how to be patient while some crummy brownies took forever (in my child mind) to bake.

I played with the oven because I wanted to. I don't think a child should be urged to play with one toy or another. Let them play with what they want. They will naturally gravitate to a toy that interests them and that alone will spark their imagination, and creativity. That is what should be urged.

But in no way does a child playing with one toy or another create a "weaker member" of society. It creates creative and intelligent children.

We are a little "old school" in our house as far as what is generally considered gender role tasks. With the exception of cooking. But this is by our choice, this is my wife and I making the decision on how we manage our house it has nothing to do with what is manly or womanly or not. Those labels are meaningless in today's day and age.