A Boy's Place Is in the Kitchen

Ben's birthday is approaching, so Grandma decided to take him out shopping while she was in town. We wandered the aisles of Toys-R-Us, and I suggested a toy kitchen, since Ben loves to pretend to make pancakes like his daddy.

If you've ever shopped for toy kitchens, you know that most of them are frightening pink plastic structures that talk to you or make cooking noises. At their worst, they represent everything I hate about modern toys: they're tacky, noisy, gender-stereotyped playthings that discourage imaginative play by doing everything for the kids.

At Target, though, we found a simple wooden kitchen that's gray and blue. Ben enjoyed playing with it in the store, and even before we could assemble it at home he liked playing with the pots and pans. Last night, Tom used his power drill on the gazillion screws that hold the darn thing together, and this morning when Ben got up he got right to playing. He opened and closed the drawers, stirred the frying pan, and then piled everything in the sink.

We've made an effort to avoid gender stereotypes with toys, and so far Ben seems equally at ease with Hot Wheels and baby dolls. I know that as he gets older, that's not likely to last; I've been warned about the everything-is-a-gun stage many boys go through. At this point, though, I like to see him mimicking his parents, whether it's making pancakes, reading the paper, or driving his little car. He is eager to figure out the world and how to interact with it, and I'm excited to see him working things out through imaginative play.