Moms Don’t Play Cars With Their Sons? I Beg to Differ!
Photo: Veer / The Bump
I recently read an article about Mattel’s attempts to boost the sagging sales of their Hot Wheels line by targeting moms and “teaching” them how to play cars with their sons, thinking that this will make them more likely to buy them for their kids.
Really? We need formal lessons?
Admittedly, I am a total girly-girl who grew up with a sister and was obsessed with Barbies, so I never played with a Tonka truck or Matchbox car until my son was born. I didn’t know a digger from a backhoe. And I had no idea that all these different cars – that I lumped together and referred to as “race cars” — each had their own name and personality. But trust me when I (proudly) say that I am now quite well-versed when it comes to construction vehicles and “hot rods,” thanks to my son.
Even as an infant, he was immediately drawn to anything that had wheels, making “vroom, vroom” sounds before some of his first words. Although I didn’t have the slightest clue how to “play cars,” and couldn’t understand his utter fascination with them, I learned. I learned by watching my son, by following his lead.
If his cars were crashing, I made sure my cars had the most dramatic and noisy collisions. I didn’t complain when he assigned me the “jalopy” car when lining up the vehicles on our family room rug for the big race. And when he asked me to read “Hot Wheels Super Stunt Show” – a poorly written book we picked up at a yard sale and was clearly published in the 1980s – I read it to him night after night, nearly memorizing the darn thing.
The reality is that playing cars was something my son, who is now 6, absolutely loved when he was younger. So that’s what I took pleasure in when we played together: his joy, his passion, his ability to create an elaborate obstacle course race track. Sure, I would have preferred playing a board game, but it’s not about what I wanted. All that mattered was that I was spending time with my son doing something that he enjoyed – even if I didn’t really “get it.”
And that’s why I don’t know what to make of Mattel’s claims. I understand moms drive the toy purchasing in most households, and there are many of us who were not exposed to the world of Hot Wheels before welcoming our sons. But I’ll go out on a limb and say most of us just want our kids to be happy. Just because I don’t understand the fascination with cars doesn’t mean I won’t buy them for my son who adores them. It would be like saying my husband won’t buy dolls for our young daughter because he doesn’t know how to play with them.
Today, my son’s cars sit neglected in a box in his playroom. He’s moved on to Legos and video games – things he can play with independently. He’ll only occasionally ask us to join him, and he’s starting to read books on his own. I never thought I’d say it, but now I kind of miss our days of racing teeny tiny cars around the kitchen and reading stories about cars named “Rocket-Bye-Bye.”
Do you think moms can “play” trucks with their sons and dads can “play” Barbies with their daughters?
Plus, more from The Bump:
5 Wacky Parenting Methods… That Work?
What Baby’s Playing With That Isn’t Safe
The Best Toys for Baby and Toddler
The Knot Blog
The Nest Blog
I think it’s silly when companies say things like that. Since my son has developed an interest in Monster Jam trucks, I am well-versed on all of the popular monster trucks. I agree with you, I think a parent will try to play with whatever makes their child happy
I play cars and trains ALL the time. If you follow me on Vine (melissa_fillingourbucket) you’ll see that my last 3 videos are all playing car vids!!! It think it is silly to say that Moms don’t know how to play cars. What’s so hard about it? You say vroom vroom and drive them around. Or race them down the tracks. Foolish. That was Hot Wheels “thing” at BlogHer’12 too. In their suite there were signs everywhere that said “Real Moms Play Cars” or something like that.
The sexism in that article is so rampant and offensive to me. I loved my dolls and my toy cars as a girl (I vividly remember the sad day when I forgot my little ambulance at the schoolgrounds and lost it forever). Why don’t they BUILD the market by marketing them to girls too? Duh! And when the article states “If a mom understands how a toy works and what the benefits are, she’s going to go for that brand over a brand that isn’t doing that,” I ask you, what is the “benefit” of all the sickly pink princess junk they market to girls? No life skills there. I want my 20-month-old son to play with what he likes as long as it’s non-violent non-sexist toys. He plays with his dump truck as much as he plays with his curious george tea set, and if I ever have a daughter I’m not going to drown her in pink because that’s what she’s being marketed for.
I feel the exact same way you do about these issues! It is so nice to see that I am not the only one out here!
I play cars with my son all the time. The problem I have found is that the tracks do not stay together. We spend all this time setting up the track, put the cars on it and it falls apart. I don’t but the “sets” anymore, perhaps that’s why the sales are down. My husband had an elaborate tea party with my youngest yesterday, including the good china, classical music, candle light and real tea.
I actually play cars with my girl too! I will get down and dirty with them to play, but I will also play independently if need be.
I only have girls and we play with cars all the time. I get why marketers do it – they have to market it to the consumers but they’re perpetuating the gender ideals and despite what many progressive parents think, there are plenty of parents who buy into what the marketers put out there. If only the marketing peeps would get wise & dump the gender stereotypes! Great post.
With 3 boys we have an entire tub full of cars and trucks. Even my girlie plays with them. I’ve never had a problem playing with cars and my husband has joined a few tea parties. Entering into our kids’ imaginative games is half the fun of being a parent!
I have three girls and they love to play with cars. I’ve bought matchbox cars for them (they went into their Easter baskets last year). I will admit that I mostly head over to the girls section of toys when I hit up the aisle of Target alone, but when I’m with my girls, they like to go into every aisle and they love “boy” toys just the same. If there is something they’re really into, that’s what I get for them for Christmas or birthdays. It’s doesn’t matter where it came from or who it’s targeted at–it only matters what they love to do. I enjoy doing things with my girls that they wanna do- regardless of which gender they’re geared for. In fact, my middle one is pushing a LEGO car around the living room right now….
I am a woman who has been collecting diecast cars for about 6 years. I learned of this article on the website http://www.takefiveaday.com – a popular site for Disney Car collectors. I was highly offended when the guy who runs the site listed this article as an “interesting” read and directed readers to it. So many women frequent and comment on this site, and for him to list this garbage as “interesting” was just outrageous and offensive to me. I called him out on it and basically got bullied and attacked by three men and one woman! If I had posted a racist article or any other type of article that would be considered highly offensive by the majority of readers and labeled it as “interesting” I am sure I would be called out on it. It is sad that people still think it is okay to print these stereotypes about women- even sadder that some still believe it.