In the pink

So today, I caved in to mass marketing and purchased a new line of Pampers called "Feel 'N Learn". They're "advanced training" diapers designed for children to feel uncomfortable when they go in their diaper. But I've come to realize that diapers for Mr. Na's age set are actually gender specific and I find this little tidbit rather disheartening. The problem is, the diapers for boys are blue and have the Hulk or Spiderman on them, while the diapers for girls are pink and are plastered with one of the most recognizeable children's characters, Dora the Explorer.

Who decided that my child favors The Hulk or Spiderman over Dora the Explorer? And, may I ask, when the hell did my 2.5 year-old son have a chance to watch either superhero? I don't even think the old Hulk or Spiderman cartoons are on the air anymore, yet Dora the Explorer is on five times a day, five days a week on any one of the five channels within the Nickelodeon family.

I can just picture the deciding focus group who informed P&G about what's appropriate for boys and girls: some frigging NASCAR set who are too ashamed to admit their boy likes some girlie cartoon character who speaks Spanish and travels around with a monkey, for God's sake. Pshaw, I say! The girl may not be able to spin webs from her wrists, but she teaches my kid how to say "salta" instead of reinforcing the notion that it's ok to throw a temper tantrum because that's how one turns into a superhero.

I realize that this is all some clever ploy to keep my kids in diapers as long as possible, since that's beneficial to the manufacturer. Mr. Na doesn't care if he pees in his Dora pants (and yes, I got him Dora pants). He barely feels it--and, since it's not soaking his jeans, he'd much rather play with his blocks than tell me he has to go potty. I only got them because we're planning a trip to LA at the end of the month, and I would much rather put him in thinner diapers than have him pee all over himself on the airplane, or take steps backwards from weeks of training and put him back in full-fledged diapers.

So there. Take THAT P&G! And THAT NASCAR people! I'm proud to write that for a limited time only, my son is wearing PINK DORA THE EXPLORER training diapers and he likes it!