A budding builder and the colour pink by Kirsten McCulloch

“So guys,” Liam called out yesterday to his dad and I, who were both in other rooms at the time, “I’ve decided I’m going to be a writer when I grow up, instead of a builder.” This was the first I’d heard of his plan to be a builder, but it seemed quite natural given that we’ve been having a lot of work done on our house over the last couple of months.

“You can be both you know,” I said, coming into the room. “I used to be a waitress, then a massage therapist, and now I’m a writer and editor. And Daddy’s got two jobs now, doesn’t he? – Rolfing and working in the city.” (Liam doesn’t really understand what ‘policy work in the public service’ means, so we just call Chris’s other job his work in the city.)

Liam seemed to like the idea of being both.

“At the moment I just build car cities and animal cities with lego don’t I?” he said.

“What will you build when you grow up?” He had to think about this for a while.

“I think… a different house for you and me and Daddy,” he finally decided. “And a new car for me.”

Ah, a versatile builder, that sounds like a career for the future.

Then he went on to describe his house plans.

“Light blue is going to be the doors,” he said, “And dark blue is going to be the roof, and orange is going to be the walls. I’m going to be a painter too, you know.”

Some kids have clearly figured out by the age of three or four that certain colours are for girls and others for boys. For instance a little girl who Liam has known virtually their whole lives recently insisted that Liam was a girl – must be a girl – because he had pink in his hat. This little girl has a younger brother, so I guess she has had more opportunity than some to see the colour differences in action.

Liam, of course, has managed to get to the considerable age of four without any siblings. On top of that most of his early clothes (including the multicoloured hat he still wears) were hand-me-downs from a family who had a girl first, then a boy – and handed down many clothes from one to the other and then to Liam.

Nonetheless, you might think his blue and orange house is fairly gender ‘appropriate’. Don’t be fooled. Later on, while I was trying to get him ready for bed, Liam decided to expand on his house plans.

“I’m going to have my own study,” he told me – I guess this is for when he’s working as a writer, “And it’s going to be purple. And my own computer which no-one else is allowed to touch.”

“And my bedroom is going to be purple too,” he added. “And pink.” Once he was in bed he went on to explain further: his door, chest of drawers, change table and light are going to be purple, and his walls, ceiling, cooler vent (in the ceiling) and heater are all going to be pink. And there will be light pink and dark pink and sparkly pink.

Nope, I don’t think this kid is worried about the gender appropriateness of his colour choices yet. Then again, just yesterday I was given scads of hand-me-down newborn clothes from a couple of friends who recently had baby girls – they are almost all pink. So I guess if this baby turns out to be a girl, Liam might start to make a connection between pink clothes and girls. On the other hand, if it’s a boy…. Well, it could be interesting.

Kirsten McCulloch

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