Really? We’re panicking about purple Lego?

My son, like many other 5-going-on-6 year old boys I imagine, is obsessed with Lego.

I don’t remember having these model-like sets when I was a kid. There were trees and wheels and stuff, but no licensed shit like there is now. We just got a bucket and started building.

From our imaginations.

Gasp!

I know, I know. And get off my lawn.

But my son? He loves the Harry Potter sets, Star Wars, Alien Conquest – he’s all over it. And he builds them on his own, at a fairly quick pace. I see the merit in it – he’s essentially building models, just out of Lego. It’s good for his coordination, his fine motor skills, his “reading” comprehension – it’s generally benefiting his brain.

The girl… well, she never really shared his enthusiasm. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sit down, pick up a few pieces and start building. To be honest, I never believed she had the ability to follow the instructions.

She does love her brother’s finished projects, though. He built Hogwarts and she used it like a dollhouse for weeks. It’s great – it’s like he custom builds toys for her.

But when we were in downtown Disney, we took the kids to the Lego store. Man, that place is fucking cool. There are huge displays built from Lego, and I mean HUGE.

My son gravitated to the centre of the store, where for $9.00 you can build 3 Lego guys, complete with accessories. As my best friend says, “It’s all about the Lego dudes.”

My daughter, however, got a glimpse of purple in her peripheral vision and zeroed in on the new Friends Lego. For those not in the know, the Friends line is under a lot of fire, as it’s geared towards girls and features things like tree houses, pet grooming shops and the colours pink and purple.

But you know what? My daughter was fascinated. Because that’s exactly the kind of shit she loves. She took a good 15 minutes going through the different sets before finally settling on the tree house.

And the day after we returned to Palm Beach, even though it was beautiful outside and she could have gone swimming, she wanted to build her tree house.

Granted, she didn’t finish it and I had to give her minimal help with the instructions, but at freshly 4 years old, she built the thing herself. And she loved it.

And while I know this will raise the ire of many out there, I’m on board with the Friends Lego. I’ve written about this before – I can’t choose what my children are into. If she likes princesses and tree houses, I can’t make her like Harry Potter and Star Wars. If she loves the arts and isn’t obsessed by math, there’s little I can do. And I’m fine with that.

Just like my son can turn anything into a gun, she turned Hogwarts into a doll house. Fabulous! Let her use her imagination; let her express her creativity when it comes to the things she’s passionate about.

Isn’t that so much better than slogging her way through something she finds tedious?

Or watching endless hours of television?

It took me a long time to understand that I can’t change my childrens’ personalities. No matter how much I might want to.

I can introduce them to as many things as I want and gently guide them in certain directions, but ultimately they decide what they like. I’m FINALLY at peace with that. I’ll be damned if I let a stupid Lego line fuck that up.

And yes, I understand the argument that it’s fine to have both tree houses and Death Stars, they just shouldn’t be marketed based on gender. But for me, that’s a weak argument. If my daughter was nuts for Han Solo, the fact that the toy wasn’t marketed to her wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference.

As a matter of fact, her interest in Star Wars is growing… thanks to Princess Leia.

And the things she’s passionate about now aren’t necessarily the things she’ll be passionate about 5 years from now. She can love barbies and still grow up to be a scientist.

Because the women who fought the fight before us made that possible.