We are still recuperating from the change of time here at the Harriet household. Seeing as my husband is self-employed and I�m writing a dissertation, you�d think the mere shift of an hour wouldn�t make a whit of difference, but surprisingly we have all been discombobulated. It is purely psychological of course.

We all got up at 5:30 this morning and took advantage of the early hour to clean the house and romp in the yard in semi-darkness before hiking down to the playground by the river to watch the ducks and herons and the rising sun. It was so tempting to hijack a neighbor�s canoe for an early morning float, but the adult drive kicked in and I was able to restrain myself. Plus there�s no way in hell I would have let my boy in a canoe without a pint-sized life jacket.

Instead AJ and I headed to the local bookstore, which has a particularly exciting trainset that AJ will shout to as we�re driving by the store (�HI, TRAINS!�). Actually, much of AJ�s conversation has turned to shouting of late. Except when it�s whispering. VARIETY IN (dynamic) SEEMS (to be) VERY (exciting). Fortunately, this was not too problematic this morning, since we were the only ones in the bookstore and the staff seemed to be entertained rather than irritated by it.

His choice of books, however, was giving me pause. Like most toddlers, AJ is very attracted to bright colors, interesting textures, and sparkly things. In the real world, this usually means he likes things marketed for girls. Part of AJ�s lack of enthusiasm for his cowboy costume is, I think, due to the fact that he might rather be wearing something with sequins and a purple feather boa. And today at the bookstore he became enamored with a Barbie book shaped like a purse and covered in purple satin. I objected to the book on the Barbie principal and also because of the fact that it was just badly written. But had neither of those things been the case, I don�t know that I could have brought it home for AJ. For one thing, I am certain that my husband would have pitched a fit. But although I�ve always thought of myself as enlightened in the ways of gender identification � I am, after all, in the academic field of gender studies � I find that I am not quite as enlightened as I thought when it comes to my son. I am certain that I would not have this problem with a daughter � I would quite happily run out and purchase a Bob-the �Builder toolset for a little girl. But a purple satin purse for a little boy? I feel like I should say �Why not?� but I find that it�s not that easy to do. Is it a desire for him to be a perfect little boy? Or simply a desire to protect him, since I am certain that if he were to carry around a purple purse, the people who loved him most would not be happy about it and would probably be vocal about their displeasure. I don�t want him to be hurt. But really, what harm can come of a 2-year-old boy carrying a purple purse? Besides which, I am the first person up at arms when The Husband dismisses AJ�s favorite books or videos as �stupid� or �boring� in his presence. �They may be stupid to us,� I argue, �but he�s getting something from them and we shouldn�t ruin his fun or make him feel bad about something that is at worst harmless.� I am a hypocrite.

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