Here at the Healthy Hen House, we have two chicks, a boy and girl. We don’t focus too much on “traditional” gender roles – we just let our kids be kids and see how their interests shake out. Before having kids, I thought children fell into gender roles based more on “nurture” than “nature,” particularly in a consumer oriented society where boys get pelted with guns and girls get sprinkled with pixie dust. Now, I’m swinging towards “nature” a lot more. As our girl started to grow, she got a bit of everything when it came to books, toys, and games we played. We would wrestle, read Cinderella, gather bugs, play “dress up,” play catch, you name it. All options were on the table. But over time, she really started gravitating towards the world of princesses. Now, life is all about Tinkerbell’s fairy dust, butterflies and flowers. The natural “girl” has fully emerged despite exposure to a wide range of activities and toys.  Read the rest of the story...