"I only got Transformers because I didn't want people to make fun of me!" Not words I enjoyed hearing from my 6 year old son, but its exactly what he said last night on the way home. Let me back to a little bit so that you'll understand why my sweet boy was crying his heart out over a video game. We went to visit The Daddy's family for the weekend and we let the children take their 3DSs with them. The Daddy took them to buy video games at a local store and Ben got Bakugan, Kevin got Transformers, and Rapunzel got Littlest Pet Shop. When they returned to their grandparents' house, they were excited to show their new games to their cousins. I thought everyone was happy...until the ride home last night. After stopping for dinner, Kevin and Rapunzel decided to trade games for a little while, which was fine since it was a mutual decision. When Rapunzel decided she wanted her game back, Kevin fell to pieces. He begged his sister to let him play and even ignored me telling him to give it back to his sister. He was determined to finish setting up his profile and designing his character. When I made him give the game back, it got even worse. He told me that he only got the Transformers game because he didn't want people in the store to make fun of him for buying a "girly" game. What he really wanted was LPS. This does not surprising me because he often plays LPS with his sister. She has dozens of the toys and they like to act out all sorts of scenarios on a regular basis. We encourage them to play and have never told him LPS is only for girls. So why was he so worried about the video game? Why didn't he just tell The Daddy he wanted LPS at the store? Because even at 6 1/2 years old, he is acutely aware of how mean people can be, so he did what he thought society expected of him. Sitting there listening to my sweet boy cry over his little heart break, I was so angry. Not at him, of course, but at society in general. My little guy should not be worried about what other people think of him. He should be having fun and enjoying life. Screw traditional gender roles! If LPS makes the kid happy, give them to him!