My son E has loved the company of four kids to play with. The youngest of them is a few months younger than he, the oldest is nine. He is learning to share his toys (with varying degrees of success) and he is also learning to share their toys.

There’s one in particular he has taken a shine to.

In fact, you can say he is transfixed. The other day, I noticed he was sitting quietly at a table. Quieter than usual. His back was to me, so I couldn’t see what was holding his interest so much. Then he turned and I saw in his hands, a purple horse.

No, not a horse, but a purple pony.

A purple My Little Pony.

And he was brushing its hair.

Woah, my inner guy said, that’s a girl’s toy!

Being an open minded sort, the idealist in me has always said that I won’t force my son to play sports, play with masculine toys or do typically ‘manly’ activities like some dads I’ve known. I’ve always been of the opinion that my kids will like what they like and I won’t try to influence them.

However, I don’t want to push my son over the edge by giving him a girly toy. I mean, this thing couldn’t be more feminine if it were pink with a big flower on its rear!

I didn’t react, though. In fact, it was cute to watch him pay careful attention while brushing the horse’s mane with the tiny plastic brush.

To date, he has gravitated towards boyish toys such as cars, trucks and it took him a while to actually WANT to sleep with a teddy bear in his crib.

Suddenly, his cousin realized that E had her pony and snatched it back. She’s not so big into sharing.

E’s mouth opened wide, his face turned red and he burst into tears. My son was crying over a My Little Pony.

“Horse,” he cried out, pointing to the toy which was ‘stolen’ from him.

Something about calling it a horse made it a bit less girly, though.

I began to have an internal debate whether or not I should actually buy him a My Little Pony he can call his own (and brush its pretty hair).

Is this a gateway to Barbie Dolls?

Speaking of which, have you seen how revealing Barbie’s clothes are these days?! I almost felt like I might be carded if I bought one. I won’t even get into the Bratz dolls, those little streetwalking tarts.

So, later on, while I was at my ‘favorite’ store (Target), I decided to look for a My Little Pony. However, none of them had brushes! All of the ponies came with other accessories such as a purse, a hat and a tennis racket. A tennis racket! How the hell is a pony supposed to play tennis?! I would not at all have been surprised to see a My Little Pony with a chef’s hat and a mixing bowl strapped to its leg.

And all the ponies were SUPER GIRLY! Yes, they even had a pink one with a flower on its rear!

I just couldn’t bring myself to buy one. I guess I’m not nearly as open minded in practice as I am in thought.

Then this morning, as my son was waking up, I heard him mumbling to himself as he tends to do, each word ramping up in frustration to be rescued from his crib, eventually becoming words cried out. Oftentimes, he’ll say stuff like mommy, daddy, or he’ll mention something he really wants to do, like watch the movie Cars or play Word World.

Today, he said something else upon waking.

“Horsey,” he cried.

So, I’m going to find a store that has a My Little Pony with a brush. And I will buy it for my son.

Unless its pink and there’s a big flower on its butt.

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