The Other Side of Girlie

And now for the counterpoint to the previous post.

Anna had her own money to spend today.  It was a decent amount saved from her birthday.  Other things she considered spending it on:  jewelry, a Tinkerbell stamp set, a Playmobil unicorn and waterfall set to go with her castle.  But she bought a big book called "Oceanology: The True Account of the Voyage of the Nautilus." I asked her several times if she was certain this is what she wanted.  She for a moment considered the Playmobil set (which I was totally rooting for), but in the end insisted on the book.

It is a hefty book. She's an amazing reader, so that's not a problem. It is beautifully done in scrapbook style, with little letters and artifacts tucked here and there.  It's about a mysterious person who went on a mysterious ocean voyage.  It's also seriously science-y (I forget that this child has some of her father's science fascination in her DNA) with one page mapping out the Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Genus of all the creatures encountered in the book.  It also throws in things like Atlantis and persons going overboard and mutinies and such.

I am pretty flexible on what is considered "masculine" and "feminine" in children's toys and play interests. There are no females in the book, and people get attacked by sharks, and the Giant Squid comes after the Nautilus. Boyish. It surprised me that Anna chose this over a High School Musical book.  But it makes me so much happier.

I love the diversity of my girls' interests. When Molly was Anna's age she had both a Loving Family House and a sizeable Hot Wheels collection complete with track ,garage, car wash, etc. I'm glad the girls have curious minds and are always asking questions and wanting to know about things.  I'm glad they can grow up at a time when they can play the violin or do karate without sanction.  I'm proud that they are growing up to be pretty well-rounded people. And please note that Anna understood how much money she had, spent within her limit, and that was the end of it.  They might turn out to be kind of responsible too? (Fingers crossed).