to be a bit gobsmacked that people think meccano isnt a 'proper' gift for a girl.

[ShauntheSheep]

Dd has asked for junior meccano for Christmas (as well as shiney clip clop shoes ). I didnt think anything of it tbh. Seems pretty normal to me. Its just another toy but LOADS of people have commented ranging from 'You cant buy her that. Its a boys toy.' to 'How strange. Is she a tomboy?'.

AIBU to think that junior meccano is a normal toy for any 5 year old to want? A bit like lego/knex/geomag etc really?

this is the sluglet's favourite toy. You can get it in a pretty pink, just for girls.

well I'm so glad its not just me that has noticed that attitudes seem to have changed since I was a kid and not in a good way. It feels liek we are going backwards sometimes.

Have got her some magentix too and then went into TKMAxx and they had loads of Geomag cheap. TYPICAL

Thing is dd LOVES girly stuff too and fairys and pink and all that which am happy to get her too so am not stinting her 'girly' side at all. Love to see boys enjoying that kinda stuff too.

I LOVED my meccano sets! I had several small ones, never the big ones (too expensive) and had great times with them!
AND I loved my Dad's clockwork trainset - he was very open minded about toys, no gender prejudice in our house.

YANBU I had all of that as a child boxes and boxes of Lego and Meccano, I would tell them to mind there own business.

LOL VT I bet he looked really sweet

I had a scaletrix set when I was 4 - my dad and I had loads of fun racing each other

I think that Rose Petal Cottage is fab. I'm going to get one for ds in the hope that it'll turn him gay... because gay men are good to their mothers and I won't have to worry about having a horrible DIL who slags me off on here

I've bought a Thomas the Tank Engine for my niece (she loves Thomas). Does it really matter whether it's for a girl or a boy?

They would probably be alright about it if they made sparkly pink meccano!! Ignore them.

YANBU, I had meccano when I was a child.

YANBU, and I couldn't agree more with all the posters who have commented on the horrendous gender specification of toys now - everything is pink or blue. Do people really go out and buy a whole new set of toys if they have a girl and then a boy?

As for pink and blue prams/car seats/etc, don't even get me started!

And that advert for Rose Petal cottage - ohmigod! Don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Is junior meccano the plastic version? We got dd some for her birthday but it was very fiddly (square nuts!) compared to the real stuff. I love meccano and was scarred by my parents refusal to buy me any as a child (my brothers got meccano, I got lego because it was more feminine!). DH bought me a meccano set as a birthday present a few years ago
Great gift for any child whatever their gender (or age)!

I went to the museum of childhood at Bethnal Green (brilliant!) the other day and they have displays of toys from each decade. The most recent display reflects the gender split really clearly compared to previous decades.
dd2 age 6 has been told by her friends that Doctor Who isn't for girls - she was devastated! I told her she could make up her own mind. Although, also according to her friends, Sarah Jane Adventures aren't for boys - because it has a female lead

DD is only 2 but she likes trains and tractors. I HATE the fact that everything is so split and all labelled girls toys and boys toys. She doesn't have a clue yet and no-one has commented but I'm sure it will start.

A friend who has 2 boys said the other week when we were due to go round 'I don't know if we'll have anything for dd to play with when you come'. I was totally baffled until she pointed out they haven't got any dolls