For those of you who follow me on social media, you probably already know that my youngest son Nathan loves everything pink. Well… he used to. Up until a month ago, pink was his favourite colour thanks to his favourite and beloved puppy – Skye (from the show Paw Patrol – if you’re not a parent to a young kid, look it up). Skye is the only female character in a group of male superhero pups, and Nate just loved her. Despite the fact that he has two older brothers who kept pointing out to Nate that Skye is a GIRL, he still loved her the most. That’s what I love about this kid… he’s so sweet, sensitive and easy going. He doesn’t question things, he just goes with the flow. He liked Skye and it didn’t matter what others said about her – even if she is a girl!
With his love for Skye, came his love (and obsession) of everything PINK. It wasn’t long before he got his very own pair of pink shoes and matching pink socks. It was his favourite shoes and he wore them everywhere… even to his weekend ball-hockey games. He proudly declared that his pink shoes made him faster and when he won the “hard hat” award (for the hardest working player), his coach enthusiastically declared that the award went to the most colourful player on the rink. You could say that Nate was tickled pink with his new attire!
I think what surprised me the most was how Kyle and Ryan (his older brothers) reacted to his shoes. They didn’t once point out that he’s wearing “girl shoes” – which is how they (unfortunately) think of the colour.
Unfortunately, Nate seemed to have outgrown his phase and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t sad. While I think it was just a phase, and nothing specifically made him stop liking his pink shoes, I wish it lasted longer. I know that when he starts JK next year he’ll hear from other kids in his class that pink is a girls colour and that he shouldn’t like it. Perhaps not, but that’s what happened with my oldest. I guess I’m just going to miss his innocence and the last little bit that I can shelter him from some of our society’s views on gender and culture norms. Either way, I’ll forever cherish the short period I did have with Nate and his pink shoes.
Love it! My 2-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter has those same shoes. She loves them too. But her favorite colour is yellow to the point where I have written a book called “Yellow is Better” which will release this fall. Along with three other books I have written in the past year including: If Cows Were Blue, The Moose and the Goose, and Hygge Hide and Seek