I have to just get this frustration out. Last night I was at my SIL's for New Years. They had invited a friend of the family who my husbands parents have taken in (that's a whooole different topic). This friend, who we will call T, has 7 year old and 2 year old boys. My SIL has a 6 year old girl and 2 year old boy.
The 6 yr old (my niece) is very into playing Barbies. First, she got the 7 year old boy to play Barbies with her for a while, then she talked me into it (you know you're getting old when you ring in the New Year completely sober, playing Barbies with your niece-lol).
Anywhoo, T was very bothered by her son playing Barbies. She kept mentioning it, then later when she came upstairs to talk to me while my niece and I were playing. She asked my niece why my niece didn't have any Ken dolls he could play with, made a few comments about my niece "making him into a girl," telling her that we needed to get her some Ken dolls, etc. She wasn't nasty about it but very insistant. T then informed me that both of her boys (different dads) had gay uncles and she was therefore very concerned that they would end up gay too so didn't want them playing with dolls (because apparently Barbie is the root of homosexuality? Who knew?).
In addition to that, she kept making comments to my 6 year old niece about "being a lady." My niece was wearing a very long Disney Princess nightgown and at one point she sort of fell over backwards like rambunctious kids do, and T grabbed her legs and pushed them down and said "No-that's not ladylike-ladies don't do that. What if one of the boys came in and saw that?" Later that night my niece sratched her lower leg and was holding the hem of her gown up (below her knee) to keep from getting blood on it. Again she was told to "Put your skirt down because ladies don't do that."
T also kept mentioning how her 2 year old son "just kept staring" at the Disney character Elsa's cleavage when he met her and she "just didn't know what to do about it."
It all just seemed weird. Add that to the fact that T and her kids will be staying at my husbands parents place indefinately (it's not totally her fault she's in the situation, but she has no job and does not seem to have plans to get one), and the first thing she asked me when I mentioned I had a pit bull was if she could breed her one year old female "Colby pit" to my dog (thankfully Sally is a female, and is spayed, and I'm not a total idiot) and ugh.
Am I being unreasonable?
You get a giant cookie if you read this whole post...
The 6 yr old (my niece) is very into playing Barbies. First, she got the 7 year old boy to play Barbies with her for a while, then she talked me into it (you know you're getting old when you ring in the New Year completely sober, playing Barbies with your niece-lol).
Anywhoo, T was very bothered by her son playing Barbies. She kept mentioning it, then later when she came upstairs to talk to me while my niece and I were playing. She asked my niece why my niece didn't have any Ken dolls he could play with, made a few comments about my niece "making him into a girl," telling her that we needed to get her some Ken dolls, etc. She wasn't nasty about it but very insistant. T then informed me that both of her boys (different dads) had gay uncles and she was therefore very concerned that they would end up gay too so didn't want them playing with dolls (because apparently Barbie is the root of homosexuality? Who knew?).
In addition to that, she kept making comments to my 6 year old niece about "being a lady." My niece was wearing a very long Disney Princess nightgown and at one point she sort of fell over backwards like rambunctious kids do, and T grabbed her legs and pushed them down and said "No-that's not ladylike-ladies don't do that. What if one of the boys came in and saw that?" Later that night my niece sratched her lower leg and was holding the hem of her gown up (below her knee) to keep from getting blood on it. Again she was told to "Put your skirt down because ladies don't do that."
T also kept mentioning how her 2 year old son "just kept staring" at the Disney character Elsa's cleavage when he met her and she "just didn't know what to do about it."
It all just seemed weird. Add that to the fact that T and her kids will be staying at my husbands parents place indefinately (it's not totally her fault she's in the situation, but she has no job and does not seem to have plans to get one), and the first thing she asked me when I mentioned I had a pit bull was if she could breed her one year old female "Colby pit" to my dog (thankfully Sally is a female, and is spayed, and I'm not a total idiot) and ugh.
Am I being unreasonable?
You get a giant cookie if you read this whole post...