Or blue for that matter? I first experienced this problem when I was pregnant and didn’t know the sex of my baby. I went shopping for the baby’s room and everything was either specifically for a girl or boy. But now I have run into the problem again. For Zoe’s 4th Birthday we decided to get her a new bike. I just wanted to get her a simple 16” bike with a bell. I looked at Toys R Us, Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The only bikes they had were either Dora the Explorer of Barbie, neither of which she is into at the moment. I searched online and couldn’t find a girls bike that didn’t have a cartoon character on it. So then I started to look at the boys bikes and had the same problem. Everything was a character. I found a Radio Flyer bike that was generic, but it was retro looking and I just wanted a simple, cute bike.
I then did some research on bike stores and headed to Bike Source at Park Road and found several adorable girls bikes in pink, green, blue and un-themed, yeah! The only problem is how expensive they were. These bikes were premium, well made bicycles and it was more than I was willing to invest in for a four year old who would be pretty rough on any bike. Finally, I checked on line and found a Huffy 16” bike at Wal-Mart. Of course it came in Dora and Barbie, but it also came in blue and white with the word “Seastar” written on the side. I read reviews and it got mostly 4 stars and since it was Huffy, I thought I would be just fine. The best part, it was only $39.00. Ironically, I spent another $30 at the bike store buying a basket, bell and fringes to hang from the handle bars.
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed at how commercial everything is now for kids. Nothing is generic or simple. Everything has to be tied to the latest character or trend or it is completely retro. There doesn’t seem to be much that is in between. Oh well, at lease I found a bike that Zoe and I both love.
Has anyone else run into this problem?
5 comments
This is cleraly a marketing ploy. They get us two ways: we have to buy two different bikes for our kids, rather than using the same bike twice, and then they expose our kids to the characters so we have to continue buying the character goods. (I am pretty sure our younger daugther will turn out OK if she rides her older brother’s dark blue and red bike.) This is such a waster of money and natural resources.My son didn’t even know who Diego or Superman or Spinderman was (no TV watching), but received a few things as gifts, and now he does!
When I had a boy – I asked that question right away! It is hard to find cute boy’s stuff – and everything you do find has pictures of trucks,race cars, sports equipment, Diego, Blue, or a slew of other characters! And, what is up with the characters on infant clothes – like a 3 month old knows who the wiggles are??? It is brainwashing!
Got to a real bike store – you can get great quality bikes without the marketing hype – CycleSource in park road is where we get our bikes. More $$ but better product
I have had this exact same frustration. My first child was a son and with a little searching, I was able to find simple, plain(non-character) shirts, pants and shoes in a variety of basic colors…blue, red, green, yellow, grey, etc. Three and a half years later I had a daughter. Because we had not determined the sex beforehand, I had not actually gone shopping for girls clothes. A friend of mine sent a card when my daughter was born and in it she had written “Welcome to the world of pink”. The full understanding of her statement did not hit me until my first attempt at buying clothes for my daughter. EVERYTHING is pink. Even shoes. Who wears pink shoes?!?! I was shocked at how hard it is to find clothes in a variety of colors for girls.
Exactly! Why is it that the "experts" all say no TV before two years old & every baby product in the world from diapers to cereal bars has Elmo on it! My could say Elmo as one of his first words, even though he'd never seen him before. That fluffy, cute monster is making me feel brainwashed!