But first, a dilemma. We went to a baby superstore today to get Mateo a new car seat. We realized last weekend that he had already outgrown his infant seat and were hoping he could wait one more week for a new seat, so we could shop after Sacha finished school. He made it and today the four of us (me, Sacha, Zenaido and Mateo) headed out to get one. We ended up deciding on the Bri*tax Mara*thon (asterisks inserted to prevent spamming), which is an awesome seat. Bri*tax is renowned for their fanatically safe (and expensive) carseats and the convertibles are cushy and comfy to boot. We loooove Mateo's new seat. After we brought it home, Sacha, who isn't exactly a fan of the car, said she just wanted to drive Mateo around in it all the time now. So cute!
We are very happy with our purchase. There's just one thing. The baby store was out of seats in gender neutral gray/black fabric, and Mateo needed this car seat NOW, so we got the seat with the only other fabric option: the Olivia. Here it is:
Yep, it's pink and yellow with little flowers in the center. This photo doesn't do it justice. It is sooo cute! And so pink. We all had quite the debate about it in the store, with some of us expressing the opinion that it wasn't that pink and even if it was, there's nothing wrong with having a boy in a pink car seat. Others of us thought that while that is true in theory, it might be easier on all of us if M was sitting on a more gender neutral or boyish fabric.We've been going around and around about it and decided we need more opinions. We want to hear what you think! Should the Olivia stay or should it go? We have some thoughts but wanted to hear other opinions first. There are a zillion covers out there, including these from the company and many others that are exclusive to particular stores or are knock-offs. There is a whole world of obsessed online carseat cover shoppers out there which we have only begun to delve into! If you have an opinion, please leave it in the comments. Thanks! We'll let you know what we decide.
3 comments:
I think the carseat is so cute!! But it's also pretty girly. I can't really explain why it just doesn't seem quite right-- but it doesn't! My vote is to get one of the other covers from the manufacturer ("cowmooflage," anyone?). :)
oh well, so it is pink - you can get a different cover later on if you want. Eric looks great in pink shirts so I don't think of it as a no-no color for men - and is it comfy and does it fit!!I don't think Mateo is going to mind a bit at this point in his life. He just wants to be comfortable.
Bubby
Your dilemma was a very interesting breakfast topic this morning. Matt and I had a good time thinking and talking about it. So thanks for jump starting the day for us!
Here's what we came up with:
This whole thing isn't about Mateo. He's too young to know what pink usually means in our culture and how deep and complicated all this crazy gender stuff is. His main concern is probably comfort and it sounds like there's no question about that. As a side note, I've found that my pre-school students all seem to love pink, girls AND boys. I don't exactly get it, but most can agree that pink is pretty cool. I have a few boys who bring in pink "blankies" for nap time, etc. etc. You see more girls wearing pink because moms and dads are buying the clothes, dressing them, etc. And I've noticed that all kids seem to love flowers.
So, if this is about you guys it's a matter of what you two feel comfortable with. Our thought is that anyone who you're close enough with to have in your car will understand and might just get a kick out of the whole thing. And if you take the car seat out with Mateo in it to run into the bank or something like that, people might think he's a girl. But as long as he's cute people don't really think too much about it. Or, if they are *already* against gay families they might come up with some ridiculous scenario about god knows what. But these people aren't worth your time. In general I doubt most people will think too much about it.
Plus, people get hand-me-down baby stuff from friends and family all the time that doesn't quite match up with the gender of the baby. And, at the rate Mateo seems to be growing, I can't imagine he'll be in this seat for too long (correct me if I'm wrong about this).
In the meantime it's a funny, interesting story for your friends, one that will spark many a discussion about gender in this culture (an important thing to talk about, especially if you've got children to raise). And someday you can torture a teenage Mateo with stories about his car seat (and maybe even photos!).
I imagine you two have a lot on your plate right now. Give yourselves a break from this car seat stuff and just enjoy the day, the summer, the park, etc.
Annie (and Matt)
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